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WHAT SHALL WE 
DO NOW? 

Five Hundred Games and Pastimes 

A BOOK OF SUGGESTIONS FOR 

CHILDREN'S GAMES AND 

EMPLOYMENTS 

BY 

DOROTHY CANFIELD 

AND OTHERS 




NEW YORK 
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



LiBRARYofOONGReSS 
OntOoy> rtaceived 

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^ Couyrieru Eiury 
CS.ASS 4 X^C. NO. 






Copyright, 1907, by 

Frederick A. Stokes Company 

October, 1907 

All rights reserved 



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PREFACE 

THIS book has been made in the hope that the ques- 
tion which forms its title, " What shall we do now ? " 
may come to be put less frequently. It is so easy 
for children to ask it, so hard for grown-up persons with 
many other matters to think about to reply to it satisfactorily. 

In the following pages, which have something to say 
concerning most of the situations in which children find them- 
selves, at home or in the country, out of doors or in, alone or 
in company, a variety of answers will be found. No subject 
can be said to be exhausted ; but the book is perhaps large 
enough. Everything which it contains has been indexed so 
clearly that a reader ought to be able to find what he wants 
in a moment. Moreover, by way both of supplying any de- 
ficiencies and of giving each copy of the book a personal 
character, an appendix of blank and numbered leaves (with a 
few spaces in the index) has been added, in which the owner 
may record such omitted games and employments as he has 
found good. 

There are, of course, many fortunate girls and boys who do 
not require any help whatever, who always know what to do 
now, and do it. For them some sections of this book may 
have little value. It is for that greater number of less re- 
sourceful children who whenever time is before them really 
are in need of counsel and hints, that it has been prepared. 



CONTENTS 



Games for a Party 

Drawing Games .... 

Writing Games .... 

Table and Card Games 

Thinking, Guessing, and Acting Games 

Eainy-Day Games .... 

Outdoor Games for Girls 

Outdoor Games for Boys 

Picnic Games .... 

Out for a Walk . . . . 

In the Train .... 

Playing Alone, and Games in Bed 

At the Seaside .... 

In the Country .... 

Dolls' Houses .... 

Dolls' Houses and Dolls of Cardboard and 

Playhouses of Other Lands 

Indoor Occupations and Things to Make 

Candy-Making 

Gardening 

Pets . 

Eeading 

Appendix 

Index 



Paper 



y 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

FULL PAGE ILLUSTKATIONS 
A Pueblo Settlement Frontispiece "^ 

FACING PAGE 

Outdoor Games for Girls 128 

Outdoor Games for Boya 138 '^ 

Playing Alone 184 ^^ 

In the Country 202 -^ 

The Library and Furniture from ** The Hotise that Glue Built " 244 -^ 

A Dutch House 264 / 

An Esquimau Sled | 266 

Indian Costumes f 

Pets 338 

Reading 368" 

ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT 

PAOB 

A Trussed Fowl 37 

Five Dots 48 

Outlines 49 

Drawing Tricks 51 

Picture- Writing 52-53 

The Last Man Surveying the Ruins of the Crystal Palace 56 

Patience Card 76 

The Dancing Dwarf 106 

Bean-Bag Board 114 

Rope Ring 115 

The Overhand Knot 117 

Half-Hitch 118 

Figure of Eight 118 

Common Bend 118 

Sailor's Knot 118 

Running Noose 119 

Crossed Running Noose 119 

Bowline Knot * 119 

Dogshank 120 

Shuffle-Board 121 

Balancing Tricks 123 

ix 



X ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGB 

The Glass Maker 125 

Electric Dancers 126 

Daisy Chain 135 

Ivy Chain 135 

Hop-Scotch 144 

Prisoner's Base 156 

Tit-tat-toe 176-177 

Hanging 179-180 

Chinese Gambling 181 

Spanish Cup . 186 

Cardboard Box Beds 223 

Bead Chair 223 

A Doll's Apartments 227 

Cork Arm-Chair 228 

Chestnut Chair 229 

Fancy Table 230 

Match-Box Bedstead 231 

Match-Box Washstand 233 

Towel Rack 233 

Clothes Basket - 234 

Cardboard Dolls' House 239 

Appearance of House When Complete , 240 

Dog Kennel 241 

Kitchen Table 246 

Kitchen Range 247 

Kitchen Chair 247 

Screen 248 

Various Pots and Pans 248 

Dining-Room Table and Cloth 249 

Sideboard 250 

Sofa 251 

Arm-Chair 251 

Wooden Bedstead 252 

Wardrobe 253 

Dressing Table 254 

Washstand 255 

Rocking-Chair 256 

Towel Rack 256 

Chair 256 

Child's High Chair 257 

Child's Cot 257 



ILLUSTRATIONS xi 

PAGE 

Walking Paper Dolls 259 

Paper Mother and Child, with Clothes for Each 260 

A Paper Girl with Six Changes 261 

Shadows on the Wall 280 

A Cocked Hat 284 

Paper Boats 285 

Paper Darts 286 

Paper Mats 286 

Paper Boxes 287 

A Dancing Man 289 

Hand Dragons 290 

A Kite 293 

Flying a Kite , 294 

Toy Boats -. 296-297 

A Skipjack 300 

A Water-Cutter 300 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 

Blind Man's Buff 
" "PJ LIND MAN'S BUFF " is one of the best, oldest, 
r^i and simplest of games. One player is blindfolded, is 

-M--^ turned round two or three times to confuse his ideas 
as to his position in the room, and is then told to catch whom 
he can. If he catches some one, yet cannot tell who it is, he 
must go on again as blind man ; but if he can tell who it is, 
that person is blindfolded instead. Where there is a fireplace, 
or where the furniture has sharp corners, it is rather a good 
thing for some one not playing to be on the lookout to protect 
the blind man. Sometimes there are two blind men, who add 
to the fun by occasionally catching each other. But this is 
rather dangerous. Tliere is also a game called " Jinglers " 
where every one is blind except one player with a bell, whom 
it is their object to catch. But this is more dangerous still. 

A good variety of " Blind Man's Buff '' is the silent one. 
Directly the man is blindfolded, and before he begins to seek, 
all the players take up positions in corners, on chairs, or wher- 
ever they think most prudent, and there they must stop with- 
out making a sound. The task for the blind man is thus not 
catching the others, but, on finding them, deciding upon who 
they are. As chuckling or giggling is more likely to tell him 
than his sense of touch, it is tremendously important to make 
no noise if you can help it. Sometimes this game is played 
(without any standing on chairs) by a blind man armed with 
two spoons, with which he feels the features of those whom he 
runs against. In this case it is practically impossible to avoid 

3 



4 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

laughing. The sensation produced by the bowls of two spoons 
being passed over the face in the attempt to recognize its 
owner is overwhelming. 

French Blind Man's Buff 
In French " Blind Man^s Buff " the hands of the blind man 
are tied behind his back and his eyes are left uncovered. He 
has therefore to back on to the players before he can catch 
them, which increases his difficulties. 

Blind Man's Wand 
Here the blind man has a stick, one end of which is grasped 
by the other players in turn. The blind man puts three ques- 
tions to each player, and his aim is to recognize by the voice 
who it is that replies. The aim of the players, therefore, is to 
disguise their voices as much as possible. Sometimes, instead 
of merely asking questions, the blind man instructs the holder 
of the wand to imitate some animal — a cock or a donkey, for 
example. 

Steps 
The player who is blindfolded is first placed in the middle. 
The others walk from him to various positions all around, care- 
fully measuring the number of steps (long or short) which take 
them there. The blind man is then told how many steps will 
bring him to a certain player, and he has to guess the direction 
toward him, and the length of step. This player, if found, be- 
comes blind man. 

Still Pond ! No More Moving 

The player who is blindfolded is placed in the middle and 

all the other players touch him. He counts out loud as rapidly 

as possible up to ten, during which time the players rush as 

far away from him as possible. Directly he reaches ten he 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 5 

cries out " Still Pond ! l^o more moving ! " and the players 
must stand perfectly still. He then says "you may have three 
steps," or any number beyond three which he wishes to give. 
The players save these steps until he comes dangerously near 
them and then try and use them to the best possible advan- 
tage, to escape. It is not a step if one foot remains in the 
same place. After a player is caught and identified by the 
one who is " it " he in turn is blindfolded. 

Shadow Buff 
A sheet is stretched across the room. One player stands 
on one side, and the rest, who remain on the other, pass one 
by one between the sheet and the candle which throws their 
shadows upon it. The aim of the single player is to put right 
names to the shadows on the sheet, and the aim of the others 
is, by performing antics, to keep him from recognizing them. 
If it is not convenient to use both sides of a sheet, the single 
player may sit on a hassock close to it with his back to the 
others, while they pass between his hassock and the candle. 

The Donkey's Tail 
A good-sized donkey without a tail is cut out of brown 
paper and fixed on a screen or on a sheet hung across the 
room. The tail is cut out separately and a hat-pin is put 
through that end of it which comes nearest the body. Each 
player in turn then holds the tail by the pin, shuts his eyes 
honestly, and, advancing to the donkey, pins the tail in what 
he believes to be the right place. The fun lies in his mistake. 

The Blind Feeding the Blind 
This is boisterous and rather messy, but it has many 
supporters. Two players are blindfolded and seated on the 
floor opposite one another. They are each given a dessert- 
spoonful of sugar or flour and are told to feed each other. 



6 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

It is well to put a sheet on the floor and to tie a towel or 
apron round the necks of the players. The fun belongs chiefly 
to the spectators. 

Deer Stalking 
This is a game in which only two players take part, but 
it is exciting to watch. Both " Deer " and " Stalker " are 
blindfolded. They are then placed at opposite ends of a large 
table, and at a given moment begin to move round it. The 
stalker's business is, of course, to catch the deer, and the deer's 
to avoid it ; but neither must run out into the room. Ab- 
solute silence should be kept both by the audience and players, 
and if felt slippers can be worn by the deer and its stalker, 
so much the better. 

Blowing Out the Candle 
A very funny blind game. A candle is lighted and 
placed in position about the height of a person's head. A 
player is then placed a few feet from it, facing it, and, after 
being blindfolded and turned round three times, is told to take 
so many paces (however many it may be) and blow the candle 
out. 

Apple-Snapping 

Another amusing blind game to watch is apple-snapping. 
An apple is hung from a string in the middle of the room about 
the height of the blind man's head. The blind man's hands 
are then tied, or he holds them strictly behind him, and he has 
to bite the apple. 

The same game can be played without blindfolding, but 
in that case it requires two players with their hands fixed be- 
hind them, each trying to bite the apple. 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 7 

Bag and Stick 
A good blind game for a Christmas party is " Bag and 
Stick." A fair-sized paper bag is filled with candy and hung 
from a string in the middle of the room. A player is then 
blindfolded, turned round three times, given a stick, and told 
he may have one, two, or three shots at the bag, whichever it 
may be. If he misses it, another one tries, and so on ; but if 
he hits it the bag breaks, the candy covers the floor, and the 
party scramble for it. 

"^ Puss in the Corner 
Each player save one takes a corner. The other, who is 
the puss, stands in the middle. The game begins by one cor- 
ner player beckoning to another to change places. Their ob- 
ject is to get safely into each other's corner before the cat can. 
Puss's aim is to find a corner unprotected. If she does so, the 
player who has just left it, or the player who was hoping to 
be in it, becomes puss, according to whether or not they have 
crossed on their journey. 

Hunt the Slipper 
The players sit in a circle on the floor, with their knees 
a little gathered up. One stands in the middle with a slipper, 
and the game is begun by this one handing the slipper to a 
player in the circle, with the remark — 

Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe, 
Get it done by half-past two, 

and then retiring from the circle for a few moments. The 
player to whom it was handed at once passes it on, so that 
when the owner of the slipper returns and demands her prop- 
erty again it cannot be found. With the hunt that then sets 
in the fun begins; the object of every player in the circle 
being to keep the player in the middle from seeing the slip- 



8 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

per, from getting hold of it, or from knowing where it is, as 
it rapidly travels under the knees of the players here and there 
in the circle. Now and then, if the seeker is badly mystified, 
the slipper may be tossed across the circle. The player in 
whose possession it is when at last secured changes place with 
the one in the middle. Other handy things will do quite as 
well as a slipper, but something fairly large should be chosen, 
or discovery may take too long ; and it ought to be soft in 
texture, or there may be bruises. 

The Whistle 
This is partly a trick. A player who does not know the 
game is put in the middle of the ring, round which a whistle 
is moving in the way that the slipper moves in " Hunt the 
Slipper." The object of the player in the middle is to dis- 
cover the person who blew the whistle last. Meanwhile some 
one skilfully fixes another whistle on a string to the player's 
back, and that is the whistle which is really blown. As it must 
always be behind him when it is blown, nothing but the twitch- 
ing of the string is likely to help him to discover the blower 
(and the trick) ; and in a small circle where every one is mov- 
ing and laughing it takes some time to notice the twitching 
at all. 

He Can Do Little Who Can't Do This 
This is partly a trick. The leader takes a cane in his left 
hand, thumps on the floor several times, and passes it to a 
pla3^er saying, " He can do little who can't do this." The 
player tries to imitate him exactly, but if he takes the cane in 
his right hand he is wrong, the leader says, " You can do lit- 
tle, you can't do this," and hands the cane to the next player. 
The game goes on until every one has guessed that it is not 
the thumps which are to be imitated, but the holding the cane 
in the left hand. 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 9 

Thimble 
This is a very good game. All the company leave the 
room save one. He stays behind with a thimble, which he 
has to place in some position, where, though it is in sights it 
will be difficult to discover. It may be high or low, on the 
floor or on the mantelpiece, but it must l3e visible. The com- 
pany then return and begin to look for it. As the players find 
it they sit down, but it is more fun to do this very craftily and 
not at once, lest a hint be given as to the article's whereabouts. 
When every one has found it, or when a long enough time has 
been passed in looking for it, the thimble is hidden again, 
this time by the player who found it first. The game sounds 
easy, but it can be very difficult and very exciting, every one 
at the beginning of each search wishing to be first, and at the 
end wishing not to be last. Play'^rs often stand right over 
the thimble, staring directly at it, and still do not see it. 



Magic Music 
One player goes out. The others then hide something for 
him to find, or decide upon some simple action for him to per- 
form, such as standing on a chair. When he is called in, one 
of the company seats herself at the piano and directs his 
movements by the tone of the music. If he is far from the 
object hidden the music is very low ; as he gets nearer and 
nearer it becomes louder and louder. 



Hot and Cold 
The same game is played under the name of " Hot and 
Cold." In this case the player is directed by words ; as he 
gets nearer and nearer the object he becomes " warm," '' hot," 
" very hot," " burning " ; when quite off the scent he is 
"cold." 



lo WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

The Jolly Miller 
• The one who shall be " it " is decided upon by counting 
out (see page 134), and he takes his place in the middle of 
the room. The others, arm in arm, walk around him in 
couples, singing, 

There was a jolly miller who lived by himself. 
As the wheel went around he made his wealth ; 
One hand on the hopper and the other on the bag : 
As the wheel went around he made his grab. 

At " Grab," every one must change partners, and the one in 
the middle tries to be quick enough to get one himself. If he 
does, the one left alone must take his place in the middle and 
be the "Jolly Miller." 

' Going to Jerusalem 
Some one sits at the piano, and a long row of chairs is 
made down the middle of the room, either back to back, or 
back and front alternately. There must be one chair fewer 
than the number of players. When all is ready the music begins 
and the players march round the chairs in a long line. Sud- 
denly the music stops, and directly it does so every one tries 
to sit down. As there is one player too many some one must 
necessarily be left without a chair. That player has therefore 
to leave the game, another chair is taken away, and the music 
begins again. So on to the end, a chair and a player going 
after each round. The winner of the game is the one who, 
when only one chair is left, gets it. It is against the rules to 
move the chairs. A piano, it ought to be pointed out, is not 
absolutely necessary. Any form of music will do ; or if there 
is no instrument some one may sing, or read aloud. But a 
piano is best, and the pianist ought now and then to pretend 
to stop, because this makes it more exciting for the players. 



GAMES FOR A PARTY u 

Stir the Mash 
This is another variety of " Going to Jerusalem." The 
chairs are placed against the wall in a row, one fewer than the 
players. One of the players sits down in the middle of the 
room with a stick and pretends to be stirring a bowl of mash 
with it, while the others march round crying, "Stir the mash, 
stir the mash." Suddenly the player with the stick knocks 
three times on the floor, which is the signal for running for 
the chairs, and, leaping up, runs for them too. The one who 
does not get a chair has to stir the mash next. 

Caterpillar 
' A circle of chairs is made, and all the players but one sit 
on them. This player stands in the middle and his chair is 
left empty. The game consists in his efforts to sit down in 
the empty chair and the others' attempts to stop him by con- 
tinually moving one way or the other, so that the empty chair 
may this moment be on one side of the ring and the next on 
the other. 

Honey-Pots 
This is a game for several little players and two stronger 
ones. The little ones are the honey-pots, and the others the 
honey-seller and honey-buyer. The honey-pots* sit in a row 
with their knees gathered up and their hands locked together 
under them. The honey-buyer comes to look at them, asking 
the honey-seller how much they are and how much they 
w^eigh ; and these two take hold of the pots by the arms, one. 
on each side, and weigh them by swinging them up and down 
(that is why the hands have to be tightly locked under the 
knees). Then the buyer says he will have them, and the 
seller and he carry them to the other end of the room to- 
gether. Once there the seller returns, but quickly comes run- 



12 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

ning back in alarm because he has missed his own little girl 
(or boy), and he fancies she must be in one of the honey-pots. 
The buyer assures him that he is mistaken, and tells him to 
taste them and see for himself that they are only honey. So 
the seller goes from one to the other, placing his hand on 
their heads and pretending to taste honey, until at last, com- 
ing to the one he has marked down, he exclaims, " Dear 
me, this tastes just like my little girl." At these words the 
little girl in question jumps up and runs away, and all the 
other honey-pots run away too. 

Nuts in May 
The players stand in two rows, facing each other and 
holding hands. A line is drawn on the carpet (or ground) be- 
tween them. One row then step toward the other, singing — 

Here we come gathering nuts in May, nuts in May, nuts in May, 
Here we come gathering nuts in May, on a cold and frosty morning. 

They then fall back and the other row advance to them 
singing in reply — 

Pray, who will you gather for nuts in May, nuts in May, nuts in May ? 
Pray, who will you gather for nuts in May, on a cold and frosty morning ? 

The first row, after settling on the particular player on 
the opposite side that they want, reply thus — 

"We'll gather Phyllis for nuts in May, nuts in May, nuts in May, 
We'll gather Phyllis for nuts in May, on a cold and frosty morning. 

The other row then ask — 

Pray, who will you send to fetch her away, fetch her away, fetch her away ? 
Pray, who will you send to fetch her away, on a cold and frosty morning ? 

The answer perhaps is — 

We're sending Arthur to fetch her away, fetch her away, fetch her away, 
We're sending Arthur to fetch her away, on a cold and frosty morning. 

Arthur then steps up to the line on one side and Phyllis on 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 13 

the other, and each tries to pull the other over it. The one 
that loses has to join the other row, and the singing begins 
again. 

Old Soldier 
All the players, except one, stand in a line. The other, 
who is the old soldier, then totters up to the end player, say- 
ing- 
Here comes au old soldier from Botany Bay ; 
Pray, what have you got to give him to-day ? 

The player must then say what she will give him, but in do- 
ing so must not use the words "yes," " no," " black," " white" or 
" scarlet." The old soldier's object is to try and coax one of 
these words out of her, and he may ask any question he likes 
in order to do so. A mistake usually means a forfeit. 

My Lady's Clothes 
A color-barred game for girls is " My Lady's Clothes " 
or " Dressing the Lady." The players first decide on what 
colors shall be forbidden, perhaps blue, black, and pink. 
The first one then asks the next, " How shall my lady be 
dressed for the ball ? " and the answer must contain no men- 
tion of these colors. This question goes round the ring, no 
article being allowed to be mentioned twice. 

Here I Bake 
One player stands in the middle. The others join hands 
and surround her, their aim being to prevent her from getting 
out of the ring. She then passes round the ring touching the 
hands, at the first hands saying " Here I bake," at the second 
" Here I brew," at the third " Here I make my wedding-cake," 
and at the next " And here I mean to break through." 
With these last words she makes a dash to carry out the threat. 
If she succeeds, the player whose hand gave way first takes 



14 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

her place in the middle. Otherwise she must persevere until 
the ring is broken. 

The Cobbler 
The cobbler sits in the middle on a stool or hassock, and 
the others join hands and dance round him. ^'JSTow then, 
customers," says the cobbler, " let me try on your shoes," and 
at the same time — but without leaving his seat — makes a dash 
for some one's feet. The aim of the others is to avoid being 
caught. Whoever is caught becomes cobbler. 

Cushion 
The name of this game dates from the period when stiff 
cylinder-shaped horsehair sofa-cushions were commoner than 
they are now. One of these is placed in the middle of the 
room and the players join hands and dance round it, the ob- 
ject of each one being to make one of his neighbors knock 
the cushion over and to avoid knocking it over himself. Who- 
ever does knock it down leaves the ring, until at last there are 
only two striving with each other. A hearth-brush, if it can 
be persuaded to stand up, makes a good substitute for a 
cushion. It also makes the game more difficult, being so very 
sensitive to touch. 

The Day's Shopping 
The players sit in a ring, and the game is begun by one 
saying to the next, "I've just come back from shopping." 
" Yes," is the reply, " and what have you bought ? " The 
first speaker has then to name some article w^hich, without 
leaving her seat, she can touch, such as a pair of boots, a 
necktie, a watch-chain, a bracelet. Having done so, the next 
player takes up the character of the shopper, and so on round 
the ring. 'No article must, however, be named twice, which 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 15 

means that when the game has gone on for a round or two the 
answers become very difficult to find. 

"' Clap In, Clap Out 
Half the players go out, and the others stay in and ar- 
range the chairs in a line so that there is an empty one next 
to every person. Each then chooses which of the others he 
will have to occupy the adjoining chair, and when this is set- 
tled some one tells the outside party that they can: begin. 
One of them then comes in and takes the chair for which he 
thinks it most likely that he has been chosen. If he is right, 
everybody claps and he stays there. But if wrong, everybody 
hisses and he has to go out again. Another player then 
comes in, and so on until all the chairs are filled. 

Neighbors 
An extension of this game is " Neighbors." In " !N"eigh- 
bors " half the company are blindfolded, and are seated with 
an empty chair on the right hand of each. At a given signal 
all the other players occupy these empty chairs, as myste- 
riously as they can, and straightway begin to sing, either all 
to a tune played on the piano or independently. The object 
of the blind players is to find out, entirely by the use of the 
ear, who it is that is seated on their right. Those that guess 
correctly are unbandaged, and their places are taken by the 
players whose names they guessed. The others continue 
blindfolded until they guess rightly. One guess only is 
allowed each time. 

Oranges and Lemons, or London Bridge is Falling Down 

This pleasant old game begins by two of the older or 

taller players — one being Oranges and the other Lemons — 

taking places opposite each other and joining their hands 

high, thus making an arch for the rest to pass under in a long 



i6 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

line. The procession then starts, each one holding the one in 
front by the coat or dress. As the procession moves along, 
the two players forming the arch repeat or chant these 
lines : — 

"Oranges and lemons," 

Say the bells of St. Clement's. " 
" You owe me five farthings, " 

Say the bells of St. Martin's. 
*' When will you pay me? " 

Say the bells of Old Bailey. 
" When I grow rich," 

Say the bells of Shoreditch. 
"When will that be?" 

Say the bells of Stepney. 
" I do not know," 

Says the great bell of Bow. 

Here comes a candle to light you to bed, 

And here comes a chopper to chop off the last man's head. 

"With these final words the arch-players lower their arms and 
catch the head of the last of the procession. In order that 
the arrival of the end of the procession and the end of the 
verses shall come together, the last line can be lengthened 
like this — 

And here comes a chopper to chop off the last — last — last — last man's head. 
Another shorter verse which is often sung is, 

London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down, 
London Bridge is falling down. My fair lady. 

In this case the two players who make the arch with their 
arms can choose any eatables they like — "ice cream "and 
" oysters." The players who are caught are asked which they 
prefer and their places are back of the one representing their 
choice. The captured player is then asked in a whisper which 
he will be,- oranges or lemons ? and if he says oranges, is 
placed accordingly behind that one of his capturers who is to 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 17 

have the oranges on his side. The procession and the rhyme 
begin again, and so on until all are caught and are ranged on 
their respective sides. Then a handkerchief is placed on the 
floor between the captains of the oranges and the lemons, and 
both sides pull, as in the " Tug of War " (page 38), until one 
side is pulled over the handkerchief. 

General Post 
The players sit round the room in a large circle, and, 
after appointing a postmaster to write down their names and 
call out the changes, choose each a town. One player is then 
blindfolded and placed in the middle. The game begins when 
the postmaster calls out the first journey, thus, " The post is 
going from Putney to Hongkong." The player who has 
chosen Putney and the player who has chosen Hongkong 
must then change places without being caught by the blind 
man, or without letting him get into either of their chairs 
first. Otherwise the player who is caught, or who ought to be 
in that chair, becomes the blind man. Every now and then 
" General Post " is called, when all the players have to 
change seats at the same time ; and this gives the blind man 
an excellent chance. 

Spin the Platter 
A tin plate, to serve as platter, is placed in the middle 
of the room. The players sit round it in a large circle, 
each choosing either a number by which to be known, or 
the name of a town. The game is begun by one player 
taking up the plate, spinning it, calling out a number or town 
belonging to another, and hurrying back to his place. The 
one called has to spring up and reach the plate before it 
falls, and, giving it a fresh spin, call some one else. So it 
goes on. On paper there seems to be little in it, but in 



i8 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

actual play the game is good on account of the difficulty of 
quite realizing that it is one's own borrowed name that has 
been called. 

Kitchen Utensils 
This is a variety of " Spin the platter." The players sit 
in a ring and choose each the name of some kitchen utensil or 
something used in cooking, such as meat-chopper or raisins. 
One player then goes in the middle with a bunched-up hand- 
kerchief, and this he throws at some one, at the same time 
trying to say the name of that some one's kitchen utensil 
three times before that some one can say it once. If, as very 
often happens, the player at whom the handkerchief is thrown 
is so completely bewildered as to have lost the power of 
speech or memory until it is too late, he must change places 
with the one in the middle. 

Up Jenkins 
The players sit on opposite sides of a table, or in two op- 
posite rows of chairs with a cloth spread over their laps. A 
quarter or dime or other small object is then passed about 
among the hands of one of the sides under the table or 
cloth. At the word "Up Jenkins !" called by the other side 
all these hands tightly clenched must be at once placed in 
view on the table or the cloth. The first player on the other 
side then carefully scans the faces of his opponents to see if 
any one bears an expression which seems to betray his posses- 
sion of the quarter, and, having made up his mind, reaches 
over and touches the hand in which he hopes the quarter is, 
saying, " Tip it." The hand is then opened. If the guess is 
right the guessing side take the quarter and hide it. If 
wrong, the same side hide it again, and the second player on 
the guessing side tries his luck at discovering its where- 
abouts. A score is decided on before the game begins, and 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 19 

the winning side is that which make the fewest number of 
wrong guesses. 

Another way to play " Up Jenkins " is to have the 
players, equally divided, sit opposite each other at a table. 
A quarter is then passed along under the table by one 
side or team. At the command " Up Jenkins," given hy the 
captain of the other side, chosen beforehand, all the players 
on the side having the coin must lift their hands above the 
table ; and at the command " Down Jenkins," also given by 
the captain, all the hands must be brought down flat on the 
table. The greater the bang with which this is done, the less 
chance of detecting the sound of the metal striking the 
table. The captain then orders the players to raise their 
hands one by one, his object being to leave the coin in the 
last hand. If he succeeds, his side takes the coin ; if he fails, 
the other side score the number of hands still left on the 
table, and again hide the coin. Another person then be- 
comes captain. If the coin can be " spotted " in a certain 
hand, either by sight or sound, before a hand has been re- 
moved, it has to be forfeited, and the side that wins it adds 
double the number of hands of the other side to their score. 
If it is " spotted " and is not in that hand, the side still re- 
tains the coin, and also score double the number of hands. If 
anybody obeys any one else but the captain, in raising, lower- 
ing or removing his hands, his side loses the coin, no matter 
who holds it, but neither side scores. 

Hunt the Ring 

All the players but one form a circle, with their hands 

on a piece of string on which a ring has been threaded. The 

other player stands in the middle of the circle. The ring is 

then hurried up and down the string from end to end, the ob- 



20 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW^ 

ject being to keep its whereabouts bidden from the other 
player. 

Lady Queen Anne 
In this game, which is usually played by girls, one player 
hides her eyes, while the others, who are sitting in a row, pass 
a ball from one to another until it is settled who shall keep it. 
This done, they all hide their hands in their laps, as if each 
one had it ; and the other player is called, her aim being to 
discover in whose hands the ball is hidden. She examines 
the faces of the others very closely until she makes up her 
mind which one probably has the ball, and then addresses that 
one thus — 

Lady Queen Anne, she sits in the sun, 

As fair as a lily, as brown as a bun, 

She sends you three letters and prays you'll read one. 

To this the player replies — 

I cannot read one unless I read all j 

and the seeker answers — 

Then pray, Miss [whatever the name is], deliver the ball. 

If the ball really is with this player, the seeker and she change 
places, but otherwise the seeker hides her eyes again and the 
ball changes hands (or not). And so on until it is found. 

Another way is for sides to be taken, one consisting of 
Queen Anne and her maids and the other of gipsies. The 
gipsies have the ball first, and, having hidden it, they advance 
in a line toward Queen Anne, each holding up her skirts as if 
the ball were there, singing — 

Lady Queen Anne, she sits in the sun, 
As fair as a \ilj, as brown as a bun. 
King John has sent you letters three, 
And begs you'll read one unto me. 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 21 

Lady Queen Anne and her maids reply — 

We caunot read one unless we read all, 
So pray, Miss [whatever the name of the player chosen may be], deliver the ball. 

If they have hit upon the right player she goes over to Queen 
Anne's side. But if not, the gipsies sing — 

The ball is mine, it is not thine, 

So you, proud Queen, sit still on your throne, 

While we poor gipsies go and come. 

They then turn round and hide the ball again. 

The Feather 

A very exhausting game. The players sit round a table 
and form sides, one half against the other, and a little fluffy 
feather is placed in the middle. The aim of each side is to 
blow the feather so that it settles in the other camp, and to 
keep it from settling in their own. 

The same game can be played with a marble on a table 
from which the table-cloth has been removed. In this case 
you all sink your faces to the level of the table. 

Russian Scandal, or " Gossip " 
The players sit in a long line or ring. The first, turning 
to the second, whispers very rapidly some remark or a brief 
story. The second, who may hear it distinctly, but probably 
does not, then whispers it as exactly as he can to the third 
player ; and so on until the line is finished. The last player 
then whispers it to the first player ; and the first player re- 
peats his original remark to the company, and follows it with 
the form in which it has just reached him. 

Advertisements 
All the players sit in a ring, except one, who stands in the 
middle holding a soft cushion. This he throws at any one of 
the players and begins to count ten. The person at whom the 



22 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

cushion was thrown must call out the words of a well-known 
advertisement before ten is reached. If he fails be must pay 
a forfeit. 

Judge and Jury 
The players, or jury, form up in two rows facing each other. 
The judge sits at one end, or passes between the two lines, and 
asks his questions. These may be of any description. Perhaps 
he will say, " Miss A, do you think it will rain to-morrow ? " 
'Now although the judge addresses Miss A and looks at her, it is 
not she who must answer but the player opposite to her. And 
he in his answer is not allowed to say eitl^er "Yes,"'' No," 
*' Black," "White," or "Gray." If the player who was ad- 
dressed answers she becomes judge and the judge takes her seat; 
or if the opposite player does not answer before the judge has 
counted ten he becomes judge and the judge takes his seat. 

Cross Questions 
The players sit in a circle, and the game begins by one 
player turning to the next and asking a question. Perhaps it 
will be, "Did you get very wet this evening ? " The answer 
may be, " Fortunately I had a mackintosh." The second 
player then asks the third, and so on round the circle until it 
comes to the first player's turn to be asked a question by the 
last one. Perhaps this question will be, "I hope your cousin 
is better ? " All these questions and answers have to be very 
carefully remembered, because on the circle being complete 
each player in turn has to repeat the question which was put 
to her and the answer which she received to the question 
which she herself put. Thus in the present instance the first 
player would announce that the question was, " I hope your 
cousin is better ? " and the answer, " Fortunately I had a 
mackintosh." Another variety of cross question is played as 
follows. The company is divided into two parts, and stand 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 23 

facing each other. A leader is chosen for each side, one to give 
the questions and one to give the answers. One goes down his 
side giving to each player in a whisper some serious question 
which he must ask of his opposite in the other line. The other 
leader whispers to each of his players an absurd answer. 
Then the play begins. The first in line asks his opponent his 
question and receives the absurd answer three times. If either 
of them smile he is put out of the game. The person who can 
keep a straight face to the last, v\^ins the prize. After the 
whole line has asked and answered the first set of questions, 
the first couple become the leaders, and propound two other sets 
of questions and answers. And so on until only two are left. 

Ruth and Jacob 
One player has his eyes blinded and stands in a circle made 
by the other players. They dance silently around him until he 
points at one, who must then enter the circle and try to avoid 
being caught by the blind man. The pursuer calls out from time 
to time '' Kuth ! " to which the pursued must always answer at 
once " Jacob!" at the same time trying to dodge quickly enough 
to escape the other's immediate rush to the spot. After the 
" Ruth " is caught, the "Jacob'' must guess who it is and if 
he guesses right, the "Ruth " is blindfolded and becomes the 
" Jacob," and the game begins anew. 

Fly Away ! 
The player who is chosen as leader sits down and places 
the first finger of her right hand on her knee. The others 
crowd round her and also place the first finger of their right 
hands on her knee, close to hers. The game is for the leader 
to raise her finger suddenly, saying, " Fly away [something]." 
If that something is not capable of flight the other fingers 
must not move, but if it can fly they must rise also. Thus, 
" Fly away, thrush ! " " Fly away, pigeon ! " ^' Fly away, but- 



24 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

terfly ! " should cause all the fingers to spring up. But of 
" Fly away, omnibus ! " " Fly away, cat ! " " Fly away, pig ! " 
no notice should be taken. The game is, of course, to catch 
players napping. 

Hold Fast ! Let Go ! 
This is a very confusing game of contraries for five play- 
ers. Four of them hold each the corner of a handkerchief. 
The other, who stands by to give orders, then shouts either 
" Let go ! " or " Hold fast ! " When " Let go ! " is called, the 
handkerchief must be held as firmly as ever ; but when *' Hold 
fast ! " it must be dropped. The commands should be given 
quickly and now and then repeated to add to the anxiety of 
the other players. 

The Sergeant 
In this game one player represents a sergeant and the 
others are soldiers whom he is drilling. When he makes an 
action and says " Do this " the others have to imitate him ; 
but if he says " Do that " they must take no notice. 

Simon Says Thumbs Up 

The players sit about on the floor or on chairs, each hold- 
ing out on his knee his clenched fist with the thumb sticking 
straight up. One player calls out " Simon says thumbs down." 
All the thumbs must be instantly reversed. Then he tries to 
confuse them by alternating between up and down for some 
time until they all get into the way of expecting the change, 
and then he gives the same order twice in succession. Those 
who make a mistake pay a forfeit. If he calls out simply 
" Thumbs up " or '' Thumbs down " no attention must be paid 
to this order as a forfeit is taken. 

The orders are sometimes varied by the command " Simon 
says wig-wag ! " when all the thumbs must be waggled to 
and fro. . 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 25 

The Grand Mufti 
A somewhat similar game of contraries is " The Grand 
Mufti." The player personating the Grand Mufti stands in 
the middle or on a chair, and performs whatever action he 
likes with his hands, arms, head, and legs. With each move- 
ment he says, " Thus does the Grand Mufti," or, " So does the 
Grand Mufti." When it is " Thus does the Grand Mufti " the 
other players nlust imitate his movement ; but when it is " So 
does the Grand Mufti " they must take no notice. Any mis- 
takes may lead to forfeits. 

The Mandarins 
There is no contrariness about " The Mandarins." The 
players sit in a circle, and the game is begun by one of them 
remarking to the next, " My ship has come home from China." 
The answer is "Yes, and what has it brought ? " The first 
player replies, " A fan," and begins to fan herself with her 
right hand. All the players must copy her. The second 
player then turns to the third (all still fanning) and remarks, 
" My ship has come home from China." " Yes, and what has 
it brought?" " Two fans." All the players then fan them- 
selves with both hands. The third player, to the fourth (all 
still fanning), " My ship has come home from China." " Yes, 
and what has it brought ? " " Three fans." All the players 
then add a nodding head to their other movements. And so 
on, until when " Nine fans " is reached, heads, eyes, mouth, 
hands, feet and body are all moving. The answers and move- 
ments of this game may be varied. Thus the second answer 
to the question " And what has it brought " might be " A 
bicycle," when the feet of all the players would have to move 
as if working pedals ; the third answer could be a " snuif- 
box," which should set all the players sneezing ; and so on. 
A typewriter, a piano, a barrel-organ, a football, would vary 
the game. 



26 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

Buff 
This test of self-control is rather a favorite ; but it is not 
so much a game as a means of distributing forfeits. The 
players sit in a circle. One then stands up and, holding out a 
stick, repeats these lines — 

Buff says Buff to all his men, 

And I say Buff to you again. 

Buff never laughs, Buff never smiles. 

In spite of all your cunning wiles, 

But carries his face 

With a very good grace, 

And passes his stick to the very next place. 

This must be said without laughing or smiling. Each player 
in turn holds the stick and repeats the verses, those that 
laugh or smile having, when it is over, to pay a forfeit. 

The Ditto Game 
This is another game in which laughter is forbidden. 
The players sit close together in a silent circle. Whatever 
the leader does the others have to do, but without smile or 
sound. Perhaps the leader will begin by pulling the next 
player's hair, and pass on to pat her cheek, or prod her sides, 
or pinch her nose. 

Statues 
Another trial of composure. The players choose what 
positions they will and become as still and as silent as statues. 
One player is judge. It is his business to try and make the 
statues laugh. All who laugh pay forfeits ; but the one who 
keeps his face grave longest becomes " Judge." 

Laughter 
" Laughter " is just the opposite. The company sit in a 
circle and the game is begun by one throwing a handkerchief 
into the air. Immediately this is done every one must begin 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 27 

to laugh and continue to laugh until the handkerchief touches 
the ground. They must then stop or leave the circle. Grad- 
ually all will leave but one, who must then perform by him- 
self, if he is willing. 

The Concerted Sneeze 
One third of the company agree to say " Hish " all to- 
gether at a given signal, another third agree to say " Hash," 
and the rest agree to say " Hosh." The word of command is 
then given, and the result is the sound as of a tremendous 
sneeze. 

Bingo 
In " Bingo " the players begin by joining hands and 
marching round, singing — 

There was a farmer had a dog 

His name was Bobby Bingo O. 

B, I, N, G, O, 

B, I, N, G, O, 

B, I, N, G, O, 

And Bingo was his name O ! 

The players then loose hands, the girls go inside the ring and 
stand there, and the boys run round them singing the rhyme 
again. Then the boys go inside and the girls run round them 
and sing it. And then hands are taken once more and all 
go round in the original circle singing it a fourth time. If 
no boys are playing, the girls should arrange, before the game 
begins, which shall personate them. < 

Robin's Alive 

A good game for the fireside is " Eobin 's Alive." There 

are so few children nowadays who have fireplaces that this can 

be modified so that it is a good evening game for any quiet 

group of children. Some one lights a piece of twisted paper 



28 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

or a stick of wood, twirls it rapidly in the air to keep it burn- 
ing and says, as fast as he can, 

Eobin 's alive, and alive he shall be 

If he dies in my hand you may back-saddle me, 

and at once passes the paper on to the next player who in turn 
recites the verse. The one in whose hand it finally goes out 
is "back-saddled" in this way. He lies down on the floor 
and the others pile cushions and chairs and books on him 
while he repeats, 

Rocks and stones and the old horse's bones 
All this and more you may pile upon me. 

The Mulberry Bush 
The players join hands and go round and round in a ring, 
singing — 

Here we go round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, 
Here we go round the mulberry bush 
On a fine and frosty morning. 

They then let go hands and sing — 

This is the way we wash our clothes, wash our clothes, wash our clothes, 
This is the way we wash our clothes 
On a fine and frosty morning, 

and as they sing they pretend to be washing. After the verse 
is done they join hands again and dance round to the singing 
of the mulberry bush chorus again, and so on after each verse. 
The other verses are — 

(2) This is the way we iron our clothes. 

(3) This is the way we wash our face. 

(4) This is the way we comb our hair. 

(5) This is the way we go to school {very sadly). 

(6) This is the way we learn our book. 

(7) This is the way we sew our seams. 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 29 

And lastly and very gaily — 

(8) This is the way we come from school, 

and then the chorus comes again, and the game is done. 

Looby, Looby 
This is another of the old country games in which the 
players all have to do the same things. They first join hands 
and dance round, singing — 

Here we dance Looby, looby, 

Here we dance Looby light. 
Here we dance Looby, looby. 

All on a Saturday night. 

Then, letting go of hands and standing still, they sing — 

Put your right hands in, 

Put your right hands out, 
Shake them and shake them a little. 

And turn yourselves about, 

and at the same time they do what the song directs. Then 
the dance and chorus again, and then the next verse, and so 
on. This is the order — 

' (2) Put your left hands in. 

(3) Put your right feet in. 

(4) Put your left feet in. 

(5) Put your noddles in. 

And finally — 

Put your bodies in, 

Put your bodies out, 
Shake them and shake them a little, 

And turn yourselves about. 

Orchestra 
An ear-splitting game that is always great fun. The 
players stand in rows before the leader or " conductor," who 
sings a verse from any well-known nonsense or other song. 



30 WHAT SHALL WP: DO NOW ? 

Then he says, pointing to one of the players, " and the first 
violin played this simple melody," whereupon the two sing 
the verse over again, the player imitating with his arms the 
movements of a violin player, and with his voice the sound of 
a squeaking fiddle. Then the conductor says, pointing to 
another player, "and the big trombone played this simple 
melody." Then the three sing together, the second player 
imitating the sound of a trombone and the appearance of a 
trombone player. This is continued until every one is playing 
on an imaginary instrument, the conductor, of course, being 
the only one who sings the words of the song. 

A Good Fat Hen 
A nonsensical game, useful in leading to forfeits. The 
company sit in a row, and one of the end players begins by 
saying, " A good fat hen." Each of the others in turn must 
then say, " A good fat hen." The first player then says, 
" Two ducks and a good fat hen," and the words pass down 
the line. Then " Three squawking wild geese, two ducks, and 
a good fat hen." And so on until the end is reached, in the 
following order — 

Fourth round. — Prefix ; Four plump partridges. 



Fifth round.— 
Sixth round. — 
Seventh round. — 
Eighth round. — 
Ninth round. — 
Tenth round. — 



Five pouting pigeons. 
Six long-legged cranes. 
Seven green parrots. 
Eight screeching owls. 
Nine ugly turkey-buzzards. 
Ten bald eagles. 



The sentence has now reached a very difficult length : — " Ten 
bald eagles, nine ugly turkey-buzzards, eight screeching owls, 
seven green parrots, six long-legged cranes, five pouting pig- 
eons, four plump partridges, three squawking wild geese, two 
ducks and a good fat hen." Any one making a mistake may 
be made to pay a forfeit. 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 31 

John Ball 
The same game may be played also with " The House 
that Jack Built," and there are other stories of a similar kind. 
Among these the most amusing for a large party would per- 
haps be the old rhyme of " John Ball." 

First round. — John Ball shot them all. 
Second round. — John Block made the stock, 

But John Ball shot them all. 
Third round. — John Brammer made the rammer, 

John Block made the stock. 

But John Ball shot them all. 
Fourth round. — John Wyming made the priming, 

John Brammer made the rammer, 

John Block made the stock, 

But John Ball shot them all. 
Fifth round. — John Scott made the shot. . . . 
Sixth round. — John Crowder made the powder. . . , 
Seventh round. — John Puzzle made the muzzle. . . , 
Eighth round. — John Farrell made the barrel. . . , 
Ninth round. — John Clint made the flint, . . . 
Tenth round. — John Patch made the match. . . 

In the tenth round, then, each player has to say — 

John Patch made the match, 
John Clint made the flint, 
John Farrell made the barrel, 
John Puzzle made the muzzle, 
John Crowder made the powder 
John Scott made the shot, 
John Wyming made the priming, 
John Brammer made the rammer, 
John Block made the stock, 

But John Ball shot them all. 

Chitterbob 
There is also the old rhyme of " Chitterbob," but it is 
usual in repeating this to say it all at once, in one round, and 
not prolong the task. This is the rhyme : — 



32 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

There was a man and his name was Cob 
He had a wife and her name was Mob, 
He had a dog and his name was Bob, 
She had a cat and her name was Chitterbob. 

' ' Bob, ' ' says Cob ; 

' ' Chitterbob, ' ' says M6b. 
Bob was Cob's dog, 
Mob's cat was Chitterbob, 

Cob, Mob, Bob, and Chitterbob. 

In the old way of playing " Chitterbob " a paper horn used to 
be twisted into the player's hair for each mistake made in the 
recitation, and at the end these horns could be got rid of only 
by paying forfeits. 

The Muffin Man 
" The MuiSn Man " is another variety. The players sit 
in a circle, and the game is begun by one of them turning to 
the next and asking, either in speech or in song — 

Oh, do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man? 
Oh, do you know the muffin man who lives in Drury Lane ? 

The reply is — 

Oh, yes I know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man, 
Oh, yes I know the muffin man who lives in Drury Lane. 

Both players then repeat together — 

Then two of us know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man, 
Then two of us know the muffin man who lives in Drury Lane. 

This done, the second player turns to the third and the same 
question and answer are given ; but when it comes to the com- 
ment — 

Then three of us know the muffin man, . . 

the first player also joins in. At the end therefore, if there are 
eight people playing, the whole company is singing — 

Then eight of us know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man, 
Then eight of us know the muffin man who lives in Drury Lane. 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 33 

Family Coach. 
In " Family Coach " each player takes the name of a part of 
a coach, as the axle, the door, the box, the reins, the whip, the 
wheels, the horn ; or of some one connected with it, as the 
driver, the guard, the ostlers, the landlord, the bad-tempered 
passenger, the cheerful passenger, the passenger who made 
puns, the old lady with the bundle, and the horses — wheelers 
and leaders. One player then tells a story about the coach, 
bringing in as many of these people and things as he can, and 
as often. Whenever a person or thing represented by a 
player is mentioned, that player must stand up and turn 
round. But whenever the coach is mentioned the whole 
company must stand up and turn round. Otherwise, forfeits. 
A specimen story is here given as a hint as to the kind of 
thing needed : — 

** There 's the railway, of course," said Mr. Burly, "and there's the motor 
wagonette, and you've all got bicycles; but let's go to Loudon in the old- 
fashioned way for once; let 's go in the Family Coach.'' ^ These words delighted 
everybody. '^ Oh, yes," they all cried, " let 's go in the Family Coach.'' ^ It was 
therefore arranged, and John the Coachman had orders to get everything ready. 
This was no light matter, for the Family Coach had not been used for many years, 
and it would need to be taken to the coachbuilder's at once and be overhauled. 
So the next morning it lumbered off, and it did not come back for a week ; but 
when it did there was a change indeed. The wheels had been painted red, the 
axles had been tested, the springs renewed, the inside re-lined, the roof freshly 
upholstered, and the whole made bright and gay. At last the morning came, a 
clear, sunny day, and punctually at nine John rattled up to the door. The horses 
stood there pawing the ground, as if ready to gallop all the way. John had a 
new coat and hat, and Tim and Peter, the grooms, were also in new livery. 
Every one was ready. First came Mr. Burly in a wonderful great overcoat, and 
then 3Irs. Burly in furs. Then Uncle Joshua, then Aunt Penelope, and then the 
three girls and two boys. How they all found room I don't know, but they did. 
"Are we all ready?" said Mr. Burly. "All ready," said Uncle Joshua. So 
Tim and Peier sprang away from the horses^ heads, crack went the whip, round 
went the wheels, Uncle Joshua blew the horn, and the old,Family Coach was fairly 
on its journey. 

It was a splendid ride. John kept his horses going at a grand pace and 



34 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

hardly used the whip at all, the wheels ran smoothly over the road, and whenever 
we passed through a village Uncle Joshua blew the horn. We stopped at Thorn- 
rainster for lunch. John brought us up to the inn door in style, and the land- 
lord came out rubbing his hands and helped Mrs. Burly and Aunt Penelope down 
with a flourish. "Proud to see you, sir," he said to Mr. Burly. " It is seldom 
enough that folks travel nowadays in an old Family Coach. I wish there were 
more of them." 

After lunch we went along in the same splendid way until suddenly round 
a corner came a donkey-cart with the donkey braying at the top of his voice. 
John pulled the horses well over to the side, but the braying w^as too much for 
them, and they rolled into the ditch. In a moment the old Family Coach was 
overturned. Mr. Burly was shot into .the field across the hedge. Uncle 
Joshua, grasping the horn, landed in a pond, John and Aunt Penelope, Mrs. 
Burly and the grooms all stuck in the hedge. No one was hurt, but two of the 
wheels were broken to pieces and one axle was bent, and that was therefore 
the last of the old Family Coach. So we never got to Loudon in the old way 
after all. 

If this story is not long enough, it can be lengthened. The 
words in italics are those to be distributed among the com- 
pany, each player taking more than one if necessary. When 
the accident comes they might all fall down as they are 
mentioned. In the case of the wheels and the horses, these 
may either be taken all four by one player, or eight players 
may share them. Thus, when the wheels are mentioned, all 
four players who have taken the wheels would stand up and 
turn round, and four others when the horses were alluded to. 

The Traveler, and the Bicyclist 
" The Traveler " is a favorite variety of the " Family 
Coach." In this game a player with a ready tongue is chosen 
as traveler, and the others are given such names as landlord, 
bell-boy, clerk, w^aiter, chambermaid, electric light, elevator^ 
bed, supper, paper, sitting-room, bedroom, steam-radiator, 
slippers, and so on. The traveler is then supposed to arrive 
and give his orders. " Can I have a room to-night ? Good. 
And how soon will mfjper be ready ? Ask the hell-hoy to take 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 35 

my satchels up to my room. Show me to my room and send up 
the jpapers.'''' And so on, each person named having to stand 
up or be booked for a forfeit. 

This game lends itself to various new forms. One might be 
called " The Bicyclist " and run thus : — A player having been 
chosen as the bicyclist, the others take as many bicycling 
names (or two names each might add to the fun) as there are 
players. Thus^ — lamp, wick, oil, handle-bars, spokes, tires, 
chain, pump, nuts, bell, hedges, fields, sheep, roads, hill, dog. 
This settled, the bicyclist will begin his story, something in 
this style : — 

It looked so fine this morning that I determined to go for a long ride. So 
I got out thejf)Mmj9 and blew up the iires^ put the moyikey -wrench to a few nuts^ 
filled the lamp^ trimmed the wick, polished up the hell and the hmidle-bars, and 
started off. The roads were perfect. The fields were shining with dew, the 
hedges were sweet with honey-suckle, and I skimmed along like the wind 
until suddenly, at the turn at the foot of Claymore Hill, I rode bang into a fiock 
of sheep and came down with a smash. You never saw such a ruin. The lamp 
and hell were lost completely, the handle-hars were twisted into corkscrews, tlie 
tires were cut to ribbons, the spoJces looked like part of a spider's web, my hands 
and my knees were cut, and the worst of it was that the shepherd's dog mistook 
me for an enemy and I had to beat him off with the monkey-wrench, until the 
farmer heard the noise and came to the rescue. 

During this story all the players named would, in the or- 
dinary way, stand up for a moment when their adopted 
names were mentioned, except at the point when the accident 
occurs, and then every player bearing the name of a part of 
the bicycle — the handle-bars, spokes, tires, chain, air-pump, 
lamp, wick, bell, monkey-wrench, pump, nuts — should fall to 
the ground. 

Drawing-Room Acrobatics 
There are various feats which can be performed in a small 
room without injury to furniture. To lie flat on the floor on 
one's back and be lifted into an upright position by a pair of 



36 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

hands under the back of the head, keeping stiff all the time, is 
a favorite accomplishment. Another is to bend over and 
touch the floor with the tips of the fingers without bending 
the knees. Another is, keeping your feet behind a line, to see 
who, by stretching along the ground supported on the left 
hand only, can place a penny with the right hand the farthest 
distance and get back again to an upright position behind the 
line without moving the feet or using the right hand for a 
support. This done, the penny must be recovered in the same 
way. 

Another feat is, keeping your feet together and one arm 
behind you, to see how far back from the wall it is possible to 
place your feet (remembering that you have to get into an up- 
right position again) while you lean forward supported by the 
other hand laid flat against the wall. 

Another is to keep the toes to a line, and kneel down and 
get up again without using the hands. 

Another is to make a bridge of your body from chair to 
chair, resting the back of your neck on one and your heels on 
the other. This is done by beginning with three chairs, one 
under the back, and then when you are rigid enough having 
the third one removed. 

Acrobatic Impossibilities 

If you hold your hands across your chest in a straight 
line with the tips of the forefingers pressed together, it will be 
impossible for any one else, however strong, to hold by your 
arms and pull those finger-tips apart. 

It is quite safe to stand a person against the wall with 
his heels touching it, and, laying a shilling on the floor a foot 
or so in front of him, to say it will be his if he can pick it up 
without moving his heels from the wall. 

Another impossible thing is to stand sideways against the 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 



37 



wall with your left cheek, left heel, and left leg touching it, 
and then raise the right leg. 



The Trussed Fowls 
In this contest two boys are first trussed. Trussing con- 
sists of firmly tying wrists and ankles, bringing the elbows 
down below the knees and slipping a stick along over one el- 




A Trussed Fowl 



bow, under both knees and over the other elbow, as in the 
picture. The game is, for the two fowls to be placed opposite 
each other with their feet just touching, and for each then to 
strive to roll the other over with his toes. 



38 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW •? 

The Candle-Lighters 
Another balancing game. Two boys face each other, 
each with a candle, one of which is lighted and the other not. 
Kneeling on the right knee only and keeping the left leg en- 
tirely off the ground, they have to make one candle light the 
other. 

Hat and Cards 
A tall hat is placed in the middle of the room and a pack 
of cards is dealt out to the players seated round it. The 
game is to throw the cards one by one into the hat. 

Tug of War 

This is properly an outdoor game, but in a big room in- 
doors it is all right. The two sides should be even in num- 
bers, at any rate in the first pull. In the middle of the rope 
a handkerchief is tied, and three chalk lines a yard apart are 
made on the floor. The sides then grasp the rope, the cap- 
tain of each side, whose duty it is to encourage his men by 
cheering cries, having his hands about a yard and a half from 
the handkerchief. The rope is then trimmed by the umpire 
until the handkerchief comes exactly over the middle one of 
the three lines. On the word being given, each side has to 
try and pull the rope so that the handkerchief passes over the 
chalk line nearest it. The best of three decides the victory. 
For the sake of sport it is better, if one side is much weaker 
than the other, to add to it until the balance of strength is 
pretty even. 

High Skip 

The players stand in as wide a circle as the size of the 

room allows, with one player in the middle. He has a rope 

or heavy cord in his hand with some object, rather heavy but 

not hard, tied to it, such as a small cushion or a large bunch 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 39 

of rags. Stooping down, he begins swinging this around the 
circle. As it comes to them the players must jump over the 
cord. As the cushion is swung faster and faster it goes 
higher and is more difficult to jump over. The first one to 
miss takes the place of the person swinging the rope, who is 
not allowed to raise his hand higher than his knee. 

Parlor Football 
In this game goals are set up at each end of the room, the 
players are provided with fans, and the football is a blown hen's 
eggj which is wafted backward and forward along the floor. 

Balloon 

A string is stretched across the room at a height of about 
three or four feet. The players divide into sides and line up 
on each side of the string. The balloon is then thrown up, 
the game being to keep it in the air backw^ard and forward 
over the string, so that if it falls it will fall in the other side's 
camp. It ought to be tapped with the back of the fingers 
and not hit hard. 

Tissue-Paper Race 
In this game tissue-paper is cut into pieces three or four 
inches square. As many squares as there are players are 
placed in a line at one end of the room, and at the other are 
placed two books, or other objects, a foot or so apart. At the 
word of command each competitor, who is armed with a Jap- 
anese fire-screen or fan, starts to fan his square through the 
goal-posts. For the sake of distinguishing them it is better to 
mark the papers or have them of different colors. A com- 
petitor may not fan any other square except by accident. 

Walking Spanish 
This game should not be played unless there are some older, 
stronger players to prevent possible accidents, but it is very 



40 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW^ 



amusing. Each player in turn goes to the end of the room, 
takes a cane or umbrella, puts his head down on the handle, 
closes his eyes and, stooping over thus, whirls rapidly about 
six times, not moving the point of the cane from its original 
position. Then instantly he straightens up and tries to v^^alk 
steadily the length of the room along a string laid down or 
line marked. The one who steps nearest to the line all the 
time is the winner. 

Potato Race 
This is a good game for a hall or landing. Two baskets 
are needed, which are placed at one end of the hall about two 
yards apart, and then in a line from each basket are placed 
potatoes, at intervals of a yard or so all down the floor, an 
equal number to each line. Any even number of competitors 
can play, the race being run in heats. Each competitor is 
armed with a long spoon, and his task is to pick up all the po- 
tatoes on his line and return them to the basket before his op- 
ponent can. Each potato must be carried to the basket in 
turn, and if dropped on the way must be picked up again 
before another can be touched, and the spoon only must be 
used. Any help from the other hand or from the foot dis- 
qualifies. 

Fire-Buckets 
At a fire in the country, where there is no hose, a line of 
men extends from the burning house to the nearest pond, and 
buckets are continually being passed along this line. Hence 
the name by which this excellent game is called here. It is 
played thus. A large number of miscellaneous and unbreaka- 
ble articles — balls, boots, potatoes, books, and so on — are 
divided into two exactly equal groups, and each group is 
placed in a clothes basket. The company then forms into two 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 41 

equal lines, and each chooses a captain. Each captain stands 
by the basket at one end of his line, at the other end being a 
chair and another player standing by that. At the word 
" Start," the articles are handed one by one by the captain to 
the first player in the line, and passed as quickly as possible 
without dropping to the player by the chair. As they come 
to him he piles them on the chair (without dropping any) until 
all are there, and then returns them with equal speed until the 
basket is filled again. The side which finishes first is the 
winner. If an article is dropped it must be picked up before 
any other of the articles can pass the player who dropped it. 

Forfeits 
In many of the games already described mention has been 
made of " Forfeits." They do not now play quite so important 
a part in an evening's entertainment as once they did, but they 
can still add to the interest of games. " Paying a forfeit " 
means giving up to the player who is collecting forfeits some 
personal article or other — a knife, a pencil, a handkerchief — 
which, at the end of the game, or later in the evening, has to 
be recovered by performing whatever penance is ordered. 
When the time comes for " crying the forfeits," as it is called, 
the player who has them sits in a chair, while another player, 
either blindfolded or hiding her eyes, kneels before her, the 
remaining players standing all around. The first player then 
holds up a forfeit, remarking, " I have a thing, and a very 
pretty thing. Pray what shall be done to the owner of this 
pretty thing ? " To which the blindfolded one replies by ask- 
ing, "Is it fine or superfine ?" meaning, Does it belong to a 
boy (fine) or a girl (superfine) ? The answer is either '^ It is 
fine," or " It is superfine," and the blindfolded one then an- 
nounces what its owner must do to get possession of it again. 
Of stock penances there are a great number, most of which 



42 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

are tricks which, once known, are necessarily very tame after- 
ward. In the case of those that follow, therefore, something 
definite and practical is required. 

Frown for a miDute. 

Dance for a minute. 

See how many you can count in a minute. 

Say the alphabet backward. 

Do the exact opposite of three things ordered by the company. 

Crow like a cock. 

Say " Gig whip " ten times very rapidl3\ 

Say " Mixed biscuits " ten times very rapidly. 

Say rapidly : " She stood on the steps of Burgess's Fish Sauce Shop selling 
shell fish." 

Say rapidly: "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper. A peck of 
pickled pepper Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled 
pepper, where is the peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked? " 

Count fifty backward. 

Repeat a nursery rhyme. 

Hold your hands behind you, and, keeping them there, lie down and get 
up again. 

Hold your hands together and put them under your feet and over your 
head. 

Walk round the room balancing three books on your head without using 
your hands. 

Smile to the prettiest, 
Bow to the wittiest, 
And kiss the one you love the best. 

Yawn until you make some one else yawn. 

Push your friend's head through a ring. (Put your finger through a ring 
and push your friend's head with the tip.) 

Place a straw on the floor so that you can't jump over it. (Very close to 
the wall. ) 

Put a chair on a table, take off your shoes and jump over them. (Over 
your shoes. ) 

Leave the room with two legs and come in with six. (Bring in a chair.) 

Repeat five times without mistake, "A rat ran over the roof of the house 
with a lump of raw liver in his mouth. ' ' 

Repeat ten times rapidly, ' ' Troy boat. ' ' 

Ask a question to which "no" cannot be answered. (What does y-e-s 
spell ?) 



GAMES FOR A PARTY 43 

Shake a dime off your forehead. (The coin is wet and some one presses it 
firmly to the forehead of the one to pay the forfeit, who must keep his eyes 
closed. The dime is taken away, but the forfeit player still feels it there and 
tries to shake it off.) 

Repeat a verse of poetry, counting the words aloud. Mary (one) had (two) 
a (three) little (four) lamb (five). 

Dance in one corner, cry in another, sing in another, and fall dead in the 
fourth. 

Two forfeits may be redeemed at once by blindfolding 
two players, handing them each a glass of water, and bidding 
them give the other a drink. This, however, can be a very 
damp business. 

The old way of getting rid of a large number of forfeits 
was to tell their owners to hold a cats' concert, in which each 
sings a different song at the same time. Perhaps it would be 
less noisy and more interesting if they were told to personate 
a farm-yard. 

Auctioning Prizes 
A novel way of awarding prizes is to auction them. Each 
guest on arrival is given a small bag instead of a tally card. 
These bags are used to hold beans, five of which are given to 
all the players that progress at the end of each game. After 
the playing stops the prizes are auctioned. Of course the per- 
son who has the greatest number of beans can buy the best 
prizes ; so that besides making a great deal of fun, the distri- 
bution is entirely fair. 



DRAWING GAMES 



DRAWING GAMES 

MANY persons, when a drawing game is suggested, 
ask to be excused on the ground of an inability to 
draw. But in none of the games that are described 
in this chapter is any real drawing power necessary. The ob- 
ject of each game being not to produce good drawings but to 
produce good fun, a bad drawing is much more likely to lead 
to laughter than a good one. 

Five Dots 
All children who like drawing like this game ; but it is 
particularly good to play with a real artist, if you have one 
among your friends. You take a piece of paper and make 
five dots on it, wherever you like — scattered about far apart, 
close together (but not too close), or even in a straight line. 
The other player's task is to fit in a drawing of a person with 
one of these dots at his head, two at his hands, and two at his 
feet, as in the examples on page 48. 

Outlines or 'Wiggles 

Another form of " Five Dots " is " Outlines." Instead of 
dots a line, straight, zigzag, or curved, is made at random on 
the paper. Papers are then exchanged and this line must be 
fitted naturally into a picture, as in the examples on page 49. 

A good way to play Wiggles when there are a number of 
people to play, is to mark the same line for all the players, 
either by pressing down very hard with a hard pencil so that 
the line can be traced from one piece of paper to another, or 
with carbon copy paper between the sheets. Thus each per- 
son has the same line, and the one who uses his in the most 

47 



48 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 




Five Dots 



DRAWING GAMES 



49 




Outlines 



50 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

fantastic and unexpected way is the winner. The only rule 
about making the line is that a circle shall not be made. The 
two ends must be left ready to add the rest of the design. It 
is well sometimes to limit the pictures to human faces, as this 
makes the grotesque unlikeness of the drawings all the more 
absurd. 

Eyes-Shut Drawings 
The usual thing to draw with shut eyes is a pig, but any 
animal will do as well (or almost as well, for perhaps the pig's 
curly tail just puts him in the first place). Why it should be 
so funny a game it is difficult quite to explain, but people 
laugh more loudly over it than over anything else. There is 
one lady at least who keeps a visitor's book in which every 
one that stays at her house has to draw an eyes-shut pig. 
The drawings are signed, and the date is added. Such a guest 
book is now manufactured, bound in pig skin, or in cloth. 

" Ghosts of My Friends " 

While on the subject of novel albums the *' Ghost of My 
Friends" might be mentioned. The "ghost" is the effect 
produced by writing one's signature with plenty of ink, and 
while the ink is still very wet, folding the paper down the 
middle of the name, length ^vise, and pressing the two sides 
firmly together. The result is a curious symmetrically-shaped 
figure. Some people prefer " ghosts " to ordinary signatures 
in a visitors' book. 

The " Book of Butterflies " is on the same order. With 
the book come four tubes of paint. The paint is squeezed on 
the page, which is doubled and flattened. The effects are very 
beautiful, and surprisingly lifelike. 

Another guest book is the " Hand-o-graph," in which the 
outline of the hand of each guest is kept. The " Thumb-o- 
graph " is on the same principle, except that in this case the 



DRAWING GAMES 



51 



imprint of the guest's thumb is preserved, made from an ink 
pad supplied with the book. 

A remarkable collection can be made of ink-blot pictures. 
A drop of ink, either round as it naturally falls, or slightly 
lengthened with a pen, is dropped on paper which is then 
folded smartly together and rubbed flat. The most surprising 
designs are the result, some of which, aided a little by the 
pen, look like landscapes, figures and complicated geometric 
designs. 

Drawing Tricks 
Six drawing tricks are illustrated on this page. One (1) 
is the picture of a soldier and a dog leaving a room, drawn 



© 



i-SirA 



^ 



* ^ 



:a 



< > 



3. 



^ 



m 



Deawing Tricks 



7"^ 




with three strokes of the pencil. Another (3) is a sailor, drawn 
with two squares, two circles, and two triangles. Another 
(5), Henry YIII, drawn with a square and nine straight lines. 
Another (6), invented for this book, an Esquimaux waiting to 
harpoon a seal, drawn with eleven circles and a straight line. 
The remaining figures are a cheerful pig and a despondent pig 
(4), and a cat (2), drawn with the utmost possible simplicity. 

Composite Animals 
In this game the first player writes the name of an animal 
at the top of the paper and folds it over. The next writes an- 
other, and so on until you have four, or even five. You then 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



l.-(3reenl 



TKe ® S^T^d tKe pu$$y-S|^went ^C 

They Hksome ^g^ ^ pUaty o/ 
Wrapped up In. a r% 



The V^ looked up 2^ tKe^-^^-i^ above 




And sang II a Small 
O lovely ^^-y O y-y my love 



w- 



W- 




a beaut'^ 




S-y 



DRAWING GAMES 



53 



'fJ 




How ch- y)-iRgly sweet lyJ 5ing 

Q 



aj^ed /long we have 

w-i^5hallveclo ^ a O' 

They uJ- ed away /or a J/-;:!^ (?5 a day 
^the L-& wKere the S>on0' ^W^ grows 






&i there -"-^^^t—^"'''*^^' ^ 

WilK aQ> at the end ofdis /p \ 

hi6 ^ 



Kls q^ 
WilK a^^at t(\e end of ^is 





54 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

unfold the papers and draw animals containing some feature 
of each of those named. 

Invented Animals 

A variation of this game is for the players to draw and 
describe a new creature. On one occasion when this game was 
played every one went for names to the commoner advertise- 
ments. The best animal produced was the Hairy Coco, the 
description of which stated, among other things, that it was 
fourteen feet long and had fourteen long feet. 

A good guessing contest is to supply every person with a 
slip of paper on which is written the name of an animal. He 
draws a picture of it and these pictures are all exhibited signed 
with the artist's name. The person who guesses correctly the 
subjects of the greatest number of them wins. 

Heads, Bodies, and Tails 
For this game sheets of paper are handed round and each 
player draws at the top of his sheet a head. It does not mat- 
ter in the least whether it is a human being^s or a fish's head, 
a quadruped's, a bird's, or an insect's. The paper is then 
turned down, two little marks are made to show where the 
neck and body should join, and the paper is passed on for the 
body to be supplied. Here again it does not matter what 
kind of body is chosen. The paper is then folded again, 
marks are made to show where the legs (or tail) ought to be- 
gin, and the paper is passed on again. After the legs are 
drawn the picture is finished. 

Pictures to Order 

Each player sits, pencil in hand, before a blank sheet of 

paper, his object being to make a picture containing things 

chosen by the company in turn. The first player then names 

the thing that he wants in the picture. Perhaps it is a tree. 



DRAWING GAMES S5 

He therefore says, " Draw a tree," when all the players, him- 
self included, draw a tree. Perhaps the next says, " Draw 
a boy climbing the tree " ; the next, " Draw a balloon caught 
in the top branches " ; the next, "Draw two little girls look- 
ing up at the balloon " ; and so on, until the picture is full 
enough. The chief interest of this game resides in the diffi- 
culty of finding a place for everything that has to be put , 
in the picture. A comparison of the drawings afterward is 
usually amusing. 

Hieroglyphics, or Picture- Writing 
As a change from ordinary letter- writing, " Hieroglyph- 
ics " are amusing and interesting to make. The best ex- 
planation is an example, such as is given on pages 52 and 53, 
the subject being two verses from a favorite nursery song. 

Pictures and Titles 
Each player draws on the upper half of the paper an 
historical scene, whether from history proper or from family 
history, and appends the title, writing it along the bottom of 
the paper and folding it over. The drawings are then passed 
on and each player writes above the artist's fold (or on another 
sheet of paper) what he thinks they are meant to represent, 
and folds the paper over what he has written. In the accom- 
panying example the title at the bottom of the paper is what 
the draughtsman himself wrote; the others are the other 
players' guesses. 



56 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 




Various Descriptions by the Players 



The Abbot of Christchurch, near Bournemouth, surveys the scaffolding of the 
abbey. 

The end of the Paris Exhibition. 

An old man coming back to the home of his childhood, looks across the river, 
where a duck is swimming, to the dilapidated cathedral and town which repre- 
sent the stately piles he remembered. 

The building of the Ark. 
The Artist's Description 



, The Last Man surveying the ruins of the Crystal Palace. 



WRITING GAMES 



WRITING GAMES 

MAl!TY of the games under this heading look harder 
than they really are. But the mere suggestion of a 
writing game is often enough to frighten away 
timid players who mistrust their powers of composition — al- 
though the result can be as funny when these powers are small 
as when they are considerable. The race is not always to the 
swift, nor the battle to the strong. 

Simple Acrostics 
There are " Simple Acrostics " and " Double Acrostics." 
The simple ones are very simple. When the players are all 
ready a word is chosen by one of them, either from thought 
or by looking at a book and taking the first promising one that 
occurs. Perhaps it is " govern." Each player then puts the 
letters forming " govern " in a line down the paper, and the 
object of the game is to find, in a given time, words beginning 
with each of those letters. Thus, at the end of time, one 
player might have — 

G ravy 
O range 
V iolet 
E sther 
R obin 
N umbskull 

The players then describe their words in turn, one letter going 
the round before the next is reached, and from these descrip- 
tions the words have to be guessed, either by any player who 
likes or by the players in turn. The player whose paper we 

have quoted might describe his words like this : G 

59 



6o WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

" Something that makes hot beef nice " ; O " A fruit " ; 

Y "A flower"; E "A girl's name"; K "A 

bird " ; and N " A name for a silly person." If any one 

else has the same word neither of 3^ou can score it, and it is 
therefore important to seek for the most unlikely words. 

Another way of playing " Simple Acrostics " is to insist 
on each word being the same length. Thus " govern " might 
be filled in by one player thus : — 

G rave 
O ddly 
V erse 
E arth 
R ebel 
N inth 

Double Acrostics 
In " Double Acrostics " the game is played in precisely 
the same way, except that the letters of the word, after hav- 
ing been arranged in a line down the paper, are then arranged 
again in a line up the paper, so that the first letter is op. 
posite the last, and the last opposite the first. Thus : — 









G N 














O R 














V E 














E V 














R O 














N G 








The 


players 


have then 


to fill in words 


beginning and 


ending 


with the letters as thus 


arranged. One 


paper 


might come out 


thus 






G rai N 
rde R 
V ersatil E 
E . . . V 
R apall 
N othin G 









WRITING GAMES 61 

This word is rather a hard one on account of the E and Y. 
As a rule, words of only three letters are not allowed in 
" Acrostics," nor are plurals. That is to say, if the word has 
to end in " S," one must not simply add " S " to an ordinary 
word, such as "grooms" for G — S, but find a word ending 
naturally in " S," such as " Genesis." 

It is not necessary to invert the same word in order to 
get letters for the ends of the words. Two words of equal 
length can be chosen and arranged side by side. Thus (but 
this is almost too difficult an example) : — 



D 


K 


I 


I 


C 


P 


K 


L 


E 


I 


N 


N 


S 


G 



" Acrostics " may be made more difficult and interesting 
by giving them a distinct character. Thus, it may be decided 
that all the words that are filled in must be geographical, or 
literary, or relating to flowers. 

Fives 

" Fives " is a game which is a test also of one's store of 
information. A letter is chosen, say T, and for a given time, 
ten minutes perhaps, the players write down as many names 
of animals beginning with T as they can think of. The first 
player then reads his list, marking those words that no one 
else has and crossing off all that are also on other players' 
papers. Then the names of vegetables (including flowers, trees, 
and fruit) are taken ; then minerals ; then persons ; and then 
places. The player who has most marks wins the game. 

A variety of this game is to take a long word, say " ex- 
traordinary," and within a given time to see how many smaller 



62 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



words can be made from it, such as tax, tin, tea, tear, tare, 
tray, din, dray, dairy, road, rat, raid, and so on. 

Lists 
*' Lists " is a variety of " Fives." Paper is provided, and 
each player in turn calls out something which the whole com- 
pany write down. Thus, suppose there are five players and 
you decide to go round three times : the first may say a river ; 
the second, a doctor ; the third, a complaint ; the fourth, a 
play ; the fifth, a State in the Union ; the first again, a mu- 
sical instrument; the second again, a poet; and so on, until 
the fifteen things are all written down. Each paper will then 
have the same list of fifteen things upon it. One of the com- 
pany then opens a book at random, and chooses, say, the first 
letter of the third word in the first line. Perhaps it is T. 
For a given time each player has to supply his list with an- 
swers beginning with T. At the call of time one of the papers 
may present this appearance : — 



A river 






Tees 


A doctor . . . . 




Mr. Treves 


A complaint 




Tic Doloreux 


A play 




Timon of Athens 


A state in the Union . 




Tennessee 


A musical instrument 




Trombone 


A poet . . . . 




Tennyson 


A flower . 






Trefoil 


A mineral . 






Tin 


A lake 






Tanganyika 


A tree 






Tulip 


A country . 






Turkey. 


An author . 






Trollope 


An artist . 






Tadema 


A preacher 






Talmage 



Each player in turn reads his list aloud, strikes off those 
words that others also have, and puts a mark against the rest. 
The specimen list here given is too simple to be called a good 



WRITING GAMES 63 

one. Players should reject the first thing that comes into 
their thoughts, in favor of something less natural. 

Buried Names 
The first thing for the players to do is to decide what 
kind of name they will bury. The best way is to call out 
something in turn. Thus, if there are four players they may 
decide to bury the name of an author, a girl, a town, and a 
river. Each player writes these down and a fixed time is 
given for burial, which consists in writing a sentence that shall 
contain the name somewhere spelled rightly but spread over two 
words, or three if possible. At the end of the time the sen- 
tences are read aloud in turn, while the others guess. Of 
course, the whole game may be given up to burying only one 
kind of name, but variety is perhaps better. Examples are 
given : — 

An author : I like to keep the yew in goo^ order. 

A girl : The boy was crueZ, lazj and obstinate. 

A town : Clothes that are new have no need of brushing. 

A river : To see spoilt liam especially annoys me. 

It is permissible to bury the name in the middle of one 
longer word, but it is better to spread it over two or three. 
Perhaps the best example of a buried English town is this ; 
*' The Queen of ^heba sings to keep her spirits up." This is 
good, because the sentence is natural, because of the unusual 
number of words that are made use of in the burial, and be- 
cause in reading it aloud the sound of the buried town is not 
suggested. 

Letters and Telegrams 
In this game you begin with the Letter. The first thing 
to write is the address and "My dear ," choosing whom- 
ever you like, but usually, as in " Consequences," either a pub- 



64 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^? 

lie person or some one known, if possible, to every one pres- 
ent. The paper is then folded over and passed on. The next 
thing to write is the letter itself, which should be limited to 
two minutes or some short period, and should be the kind of 
letter that requires a reply. The paper is folded and passed 
on again, and the subscription, " Believe me yours sincerely," 
or whatever adverb you choose, and the signature are then 
added. (These may be divided into two separate writings if 
you like.) The signature should be that of another public per- 
son, or friend, relation or acquaintance of the family. The 
paper is then passed on once more, and a reply to the letter, 
in the form of a telegram, is written. That is to say, you 
must say as much as you can in ten words. Example : — 

The Letter 

The first player writes : — My dear Buffalo Bill. 

The second player writes : — Can you give me any information about suitable 
songs for our village choir? 

The third player writes: — Believe me yours slavishly. 
'The fourth player writes: — Kitchener of Khartoum. 

The Reply Telegram 

The fifth player writes : — Be with you to-morrow. Have sheets aired. Am 
bringing everything. 

Telegrams 
There is also the game of " Telegrams." In this the first 
thing to write is the name of the person sending the telegram. 
The paper is then passed on, and the name of the person to 
whom it is sent is written. The papers are then passed on 
again and opened, and the players in turn each say a letter of 
the alphabet, chosen at random, until there are ten. As these 
are spoken, each player writes them on the paper before him, 
leaving a space after it ; so that when the ten are all written 
down his paper may look like this : — 



WRITING GAMES 65 

From the Duke of York 

To BarnuxAi and Bailey. 

H...A...P...N... 
W...E...K...S...F... 
T. . . 

A period of five minutes or more is then allowed in which 
to complete the telegram, the message having to be ten 
words long, and each word to begin, in the same order, with 
these letters. The players should, as far as possible, make the 
telegrams reasonable, if not possible. Thus, the form given 
above might, when finished, read like this : — 

From the Duke of York 

To Barnum and Bailey. 

Have Awning Prepared Next 

Wednesday Evening Kindly Send Five 
Tickets 

In calling out the ten letters which are to be used in the tele- 
gram, it is well to avoid the unusual consonants and to have a 
vowel here and there. 

An amusing variety is for all the players to compose tele- 
grams on the same subject ; the subject being given before- 
hand. Thus it might be decided that all the telegrams should 
be sent from President Eoosevelt to Alice in Wonderland ask- 
ing for her views on the tariff. Then having completed these 
messages, the answers may 9,lso be prepared, using the same 
letters. But, of course, as in all games, family matters work 
out more amusingly than public ones. 

Initials 
Paper is handed round, and each player thinks of some 
public person, or friend or acquaintance of the company, and 
writes in full his or her Christian name (or names) and sur- 



66 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

name. Then, for, say, five minutes, a character sketch of the 
person chosen has to be composed, each word of which begins 
with the initial letter of each of the person's names, repeated 
in their right order until the supply of thought gives out or 
time is up. Thus, suppose the person chosen is Frank Ei chard 
Stockton, the story writer. The character sketch might 
run : — 

F ancifully R ecounts S trange F reakish R omantic S tories. F inds 
E isibility S urely. Frequently R aises S miles. 

An occasional " and " and " of " may be dropped in if neces- 
sary. Where one of the names begins with a vowel (such as 
William ^wart Gladstone) the character sketch can be made 
to run more easily. 

It is sometimes more amusing to give every one the same 
names to work on ; and in some houses the players are not al- 
lowed to choose names for themselves, but must pass the paper 
on. The characters of towns and nations may be written in 
the same way, using all the letters of the word as the initials. 

Riddles 
A more difficult game is " Eiddles." At the top of the 
paper is written anything that you can think of : "A soldier," 
"A new dress," ''A fit of the blues," "A railway accident" 
— anything that suggests itself. The paper is passed on and 
anything else is written, no matter what. It is passed on 
again and opened. Suppose that the two things written on it 
are, first, " A school-teacher," and second, '' A pair of skates." 
The duty of the player is to treat them as a riddle, and, ask- 
ing the question either as " Why is a school-teacher like a pair 
of skates ? " or " What is the difference between a school- 
teacher and a pair of skates ? " (whichever way one prefers), 
to supply a reasonable answer. This gawe, it will be se§p, is 
suited particularly to glever people. 



WRITING GAMES 67 

Rhymed Replies 
This is a game that needs a certain amount of readiness 
and some skill with words. Each of the party writes at the 
top of a piece of paper a question of any kind whatever, such 
as " How old was Csesar when he died ? " or " What is your 
favorite color ? " The paper is folded over and passed on, 
and the next player writes a word — any word — such as " elec- 
tricity," " potato," " courageously," " milk." The papers are 
then passed on once more and opened, and the task of each 
player is to write a rhyme in which the question on his paper 
is answered and the word on his paper is introduced. 

Missing Information 
Every one is supplied with a piece of paper and pencils and 
tries to write down correct answers to questions about every- 
day things which we none of us know. A suggestive list is 
given but any one can add to it indefinitelv. 

1. How big do you think a postage-stamp is, in inches 
— a 1n.ve dollar bill ? 

2. Draw a picture of a clock's face with the hands point- 
ing to five minutes of twelve. 

3. How tall do you think a man's silk hat is, a derby ? 

4. Draw the design in panels of the door to the room you 
are in. (Of course without looking at it.) 

5. How many holes are there in a high laced shoe — your 
own ? 

6. How many toes has a cat, a dog ? 

7. How many legs has a fly ? 

8. How does a cow lie down ? A horse ? 

9. About how many petals has a common daisy ? A 
wild rose ? A sun flower ? 

10. How high from the ground is a street-car ? — a 
railway car? 



68 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

The person who can answer most correctly the greatest 
number of questions is the winner. 

Consequences 

" Consequences " is always a favorite game when a party 
has reached its frivolous mood. The method of playing is 
this : Sheets of paper and pencils are handed round, and every 
one writes at the head (1) an adjective suitable to be applied 
to a man, such as " Handsome." This word is then folded 
over so that it cannot be read, and each paper is passed on to 
the next person. The name of a man (2) is then written, 
either some one you know, or a public person, such as the 
president or Mr. Carnegie. This in turn is folded over and 
the papers are passed on. The word " met " is understood to 
be inserted at this point. That is to say, the completed story 
will tell how Handsome Mr. Carnegie met some one. The 
next thing (3) is to put down an adjective suitable to apply to 
the woman whom he met, such as " Buxom," and then (4) the 
woman's name, again either some one you know, or a public 
person, — the papers being folded and passed on after every 
writing. The remaining items are these : — (5) The place 
where they met — say, on the pier. (6) What he said to her — 
say, " I hope your neuralgia is better." (7) What she said to 
him — say, " There's nothing like rain for the crops." (8) 
What the consequence was — say, " They were married." (9) 
What the world said — " All's well that ends well." 

It must be remembered that unless there are very few 
players, when it is less fun, you do not get the chance of writing 
more than once, or at most twice, on the same sheet of paper, 
so that it is of no use to have a reasonable series of remarks 
in your mind. The specimen given above is an average one. 
In print nothing could be much less funny, but when the com- 
pany has the spirit of " Consequences," even so tame a story 



WRITING GAMES 69 

as this might keep the room merry. The game is always full 
of the unexpected, and the people who meet each other are 
almost sure to be laughing-stocks. The results are often bet- 
ter if all the papers are handed to one player to read. 

Consequences Extended 
The form of *' Consequences " above given is the ordinary 
one and the simplest. But in certain families the game has 
been altered and improved by other clauses. We give the 
fullest form of " Consequences " with which we are acquainted- 
As it stands it is rather too long ; but players may like to add 
to the fun of the ordinary game by adopting a few of these 
additions: — 

Adjective for a man. 
The man. 

What he was wearing. 
What he was doing. 

(Met) 
Adjective for a woman. 
The woman. 
What she was wearing 
What she was doing. 

The person he would much rather have met. 
Where they met. 
What he thought. 
What he said. 
What she thought. 
What she said. 
What he gave her. 
What she did with it. 
Where they went. 
What they did. 
What the consequence was. 
What the world said. 

Example : — 
The honorable Theodore Roosevelt, who was dressed in a Moire antique 
bath-towel and was eating walnuts, met coy Aunt Priscilla in a Khaki tea-gown 



70 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

playiug with her Noah's Ark, when he would much rather have met MadamB 
Tussaud. They met at South Hampton. What he thought was, *' Here 's this 
woman again," but he merely said, "That's a very chic costume of yours." 
What she thought was, " I wonder if he's seen Peter Pan," but she only said, 
"That's wet paint you're leaning against." He gave her a piercing glance, 
and she swallowed it. So they went to prison together and learned to ride the 
bicycle, and the consequence was they caught influenza, and the world said, 
** It 's an ill wind that blows nobody good." 

Composite Stories 
Another folding-over and passing-on game is " Composite 
Stories." Paper is passed round, and for five minutes each 
player writes the opening of a story with a title prefixed. 
The papers are passed on, and each player reads through as 
much of the story as has been written and for five minutes 
adds to it. And so on, until each player has written once on 
each paper. The papers are then passed on once more, with 
the result that each paper will be found to belying before the 
player who began it. The next and last five minutes are then 
spent by each person in reading through the story and bring- 
ing it to an end, sometimes a difficult enough task. If six 
persons are playing and allowances of five minutes have been 
given, there will be at the end of thirty-five minutes six com- 
plete stories to read aloud. 

Another Story Game 
A variety of the story game is for each player to write 
the name of a well-known person or friend of the family on 
the top of the paper, fold it over, and pass it on. This hap- 
pens, say, five times, which means that when the papers are 
opened the names of five persons will be found on each. A 
story has then to be written introducing these people. 

Improbable Stories 
Another story game is one in which each player attempts 
to tell the most improbable or impossible story. In this case 



WRITING GAMES 71 

the papers are not passed on, but a certain amount of time is 
given for the stories to be written in. 

The Newspaper 

This is a rather elaborate but really very eas}^ game to 
play. One player, who acts as editor, takes as many sheets of 
paper as there are players and writes at the head of each the 
title of a section of a newspaper. Thus on one he will write, 
Paris Correspondence ; on another, English Correspondence ; 
on another, Berlin Correspondence ; on a fourth, Political 
Kews ; on a fifth. Our Fashion Page ; on a sixth, Reviews ; on 
a seventh, Weather Report; and so on. Each player then, 
for a given time, writes on the subject allotted to him, more 
or less in the manner of the daily press, and at the end the 
result is read aloud by the editor. 

The plan is easily adapted to family or village life. The 
heading may refer to domestic matters, such as Nursery Cor- 
respondence, Kitchen Gossip, Fashions for Gentlemen (an ac- 
count of father's new suit), Garden News, Tillage Chatter, and 
so on. Or, instead of a newspaper, a popular magazine may 
be contributed, with illustrations. 

Predicaments 

This is a good game for a company of ingenious people, 
and it will be found that almost every one is ingenious when 
confronted with a difficult situation and given time to think 
out a solution. Everyone is given paper and pencil (or this is 
not necessary since the solutions may be oral). Then one 
player starts the game by suggesting some predicament and 
asking the company " What would you do in such a case ? " 
Five minutes are given for reflection, and fifteen if the an- 
swers are to be written. Then each in turn must say how he 
would have extricated himself from the scrape. 

A few suitable subjects are given here. If you found 



72 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

yourself in a strange city, where you did n't know a soul, with 
no money and nothing you could pawn, what would you do ? 

If you should wake up in the night and see a burglar just 
entering the room, what would you do ? 

If you should look out of your school-room door and see 
smoke and fire in the hall, what would you do ? 

If you should be in a foreign country, not able to speak 
the language and wanted to order a room and breakfast, what 
would you do ? 



TABLE AND CARD GAMES 



TABLE AND CARD GAMES 

Card Games and Others 

CARD games proper, such as Bezique and Cribbage and 
Whist, do not come into the scope of this book. liTor 
do games such as Chess, Draughts, Halma and Back- 
gammon. It is not that the}^ are not good games, but that, 
having to be bought, their rules do not need enumerating 
again. The description of a few very old and favorite 
games vrith cards, and one or two new ones, is, however, 
given, because they can be made at home. 

Letter Games 

On page 1Y8 will be found the simplest letter game. 
Letters can be used for a round game by one player making a 
word, shuflBling it, and throwing it face upward into the 
middle of the table. The winner is the player who first sees 
what it spells. 

Distribute a box of letters among the players, dealing 
them face downward. In turn each player takes up a letter 
at random and puts it face upward in the middle of the 
table. The object of the game is to make words out of these 
letters. Directly a player sees a word he calls it out, and 
taking the letters places them in front of him, where they 
remain until the end of the game, when each player counts 
his words and the owner of the greatest number is the 
winner. If, however, a word has been chosen which, by the 
addition of another letter or so from the middle of the table, 
can be transformed into a longer word, the player who thinks 
of this longer word takes the shorter word from the other 
player and places it before himself. Thus, A might see the 

75 



76 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



word " seat " among the letters, and calling it out, place it 
before him ; and then B, noticing another " t," might call 
out " state," and adding it to A's word, take that to himself. 
If, however, A then detected an " e" in the middle and called 
out " estate " the word would be his again. These losses and 
reconquests form the chief fun of the game. An " s " at the 
end of a word, forming a plural, is not allowed. 

Patience, or Thirteens 
Many games of '^ Patience " can be played as well with 
numbered cards as with ordinary playing cards. It does not 
matter much what size they are, but for convenience, in play- 
ing on a small table, they may as well be about an inch wide 
and two inches long, with the number at the top. Thus : — 




A " Patience " set consists of four packs of cards each 
containing four sets of thirteen cards numbered from 1 to 13. 
These can be made at home perfectly well, and a little bag to 
hold each pack should also be made. The simplest game is to 
arrange the four sets in their right order. One player 
empties her four bags into a basket, shakes them up, and calls 



TABLE AND CARD GAMES 77 

them out as she picks them out (at random). The others, who 
have the cards spread before them, then arrange them in four 
rows as well as may be, until a 1 is called and there is a 
chance to begin packing the others upon it. With 
inexperienced players five rows are sometimes allowed. We 
do not give other games of " Patience," for two reasons. One 
is that it is not exactly a children's game, and the other, that 
it is one of the games which can be properly taught only by 
personal instruction. Yarieties of "Patience" are very 
numerous, and good books can be had on the subject. 

Snap 

There can be no real need to describe "Snap," but 
perhaps it may be useful to have the rules in print here in 
case of any dispute. A pack of " Snap " cards is dealt round, 
any number being able to play ; and the game begins by the 
players taking their cards one by one from their hands and in 
turn laying them face upward on the table before them. If a 
card is turned up similar to a card already on view on the 
table, the player who turns it up or the player who owns the 
similar card cries " Snap," and the cards go to the player who 
says " Snap " first. As it is sometimes difficult for the 
players to distinguish which says " Snap " first, it is well to 
have an umpire. In the case of an undoubted dead-heat the 
game should go on as if nothing had happened. The player 
who won the cards gathers up also into his hand all the cards 
which were before him and continues the game. When a 
player has transferred all his cards from his hand to the table 
he waits until his turn comes and then takes them into his 
hand again. This is a very exciting moment, because, if his 
top card were snapped, then he would lose everything. 

In good " Snap " packs there are several sets of cards 
which are intentionally made nearly but not absolutely alike, 



78 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

and it is very common to say " Snap " by mistake when one 
of these turns up. In that case the cards of the player who 
cried " Snap " are placed in the middle of the table, where 
they stay until some one turns up a card exactly like the top 
one and " Snap Centre " is called, when both the centre pack 
and the pack in front of the turner-up belong to the player 
who cried " Snap Centre." It may of course be the turner-up 
himself, but is very likely somebody else, because whereas 
under ordinary conditions only the owners of similar cards 
may cry " Snap," when there are cards in the middle too any- 
one may cry " Snap Centre." (In some houses any one may 
cry " Snap " all through the game, but that is not the best 
way.) 

When a player has lost all his cards he is out of the 
game until there are cards in the middle again, when an 
opportunity comes of snap-centring them and getting into 
play again. The game goes on until one player has all the 
cards. 

Grab 
In " Grab," a very rowdy variety of " Snap," a cork is 
placed in the middle of the table. The rules are the same as 
in " Snap," except that, instead of saying "Snap," you snatch 
for the cork ; in the case of " Snap Centre," snatching and 
saying " Centre " too. 

Snap Cards 
" Snap " cards may just as well be home-made as bought. 
They either can be painted, in which case you must be careful 
that the sets of four articles are just alike, or you can cut out 
shapes of different colored paper and stick them on. A 
bundle of wall-paper patterns is splendid material for a pack. 
The only advantage that bought "Snap" cards have over 
home-made ones is that they slip better. 



TABLE AND CARD GAMES 79 

Old Maid 

This game can be played by any number, either with a 
home-made pack or with ordinary playing cards from which 
three of the queens have been taken away ; the remaining 
queen being the old maid. The cards are then dealt and each 
player first weeds out all pairs, such as two knaves, two aces, 
two fives, and so on. All having done this, the player 
who begins offers her hand, with the cards face downward, 
to her neighbor, and her neighbor takes one. She then looks 
through her cards to see if it pairs with any that she already 
has, and, if it does, throws the pair on the table. Having fin- 
ished her examination she offers her cards in the same way to 
the next player, and so it goes on. As the possessor of the 
old maid card is, at the end, the loser of the game, each one 
who gets it does all in her power to induce the next player to 
take it. As the cards get fewer and fewer the excitement 
grows and grows. 

" Old Bachelor " is played in the same way, except that 
three of the kings are then thrown out 

Pig 

"Pig " is a very noisy game. It is played with ordinary 
cards, unless you like to make a " Pig " set, which would be 
very easy. Having discovered how many persons want to 
play, you treat the pack accordingly. For instance, if five 
want to play you throw out all cards except five sets of four ; 
if six, or three, you throw out all cards except six sets of four 
or three sets of four. Thus, if five were playing, the cards 
might consist of four aces, four twos, four threes, four fours, 
and four fives ; or, if you began at the other end, four kings, 
four queens, four knaves, four tens and four nines. The cards 
are shuffled and dealt round, four each, and the game is for 
each player to complete a set of four. You do not, as in 



8o WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

" Old Maid," select one from the cards that are offered, face 
downward, but each player hands whatever card he likes to 
the next player, who is bound to accept it. Directly a player 
has a set of four complete he lays the cards on the table, 
either very stealthily or with a bang, whichever he likes. 
Immediately a set is laid on the table (or directly the other 
players notice it) all other cards have to be laid there, too. 
The player who is last in laying them down is Pig. The 
game is played for as many rounds as you like, the player 
who was last the fewest times being the winner. The word 
Pig alters with each round. The last player to lay down his 
cards in the second round is not merely Pig, but Little Pig ; 
in the third, Big Pig ; in the fourth. Mother (or Father) Pig ; 
in the fifth. Grandmother (or Grandfather) Pig ; in the sixth, 
Ancestral Pig ; in the seventh, Yenerable Pig ; in the eighth, 
Primeval Pig ; in the ninth, Crackling. 

Prophecies and Characteristics 
This is a memory game and a very amusing one. It is 
played with two packs of cards of any sort. One pack is laid 
in a heap, face down, in the middle of the table. The other 
pack is distributed to the players, who lay them face upward 
in rows ; each person should not have more than twelve cards 
since it is practically impossible to remember more than that 
number. Any one can begin by giving either a prophecy or 
a characteristic — thus: " Who will inherit a fortune inside 
a year ? " or " Who will be the first in the room to wear false 
teeth ? " at the same time turning up a card from the centre 
pile. Whoever has the card matching this, takes it, lays it 
face down on his card repeating the prophecy, " I will be the 
first to wear false teeth." The next in turn gives a charac- 
teristic, " Who has the worst temper?" or "Who has the 
most unselfish disposition ? " This process continues around, 



TABLE AND CARD GAMES 81 

until all the centre cards are matched. Then the memory 
test comes in. Every player in turn tries to remember and 
repeat all the prophecies and characteristics which have fallen 
to his share, giving them aloud in rapid succession. He is 
allowed for deliberation on any one only the time while ten 
is being counted. The one who remembers the greatest num- 
ber is the winner. 

The Old Maid's Birthday 
This game is utterly foolish, but it can lead to shouts of 
laughter. It has been founded on an old-fashioned card game 
called " Mr. Punch." The first thing required is a pack of 
plain cards on which should be written the names of articles 
of food and clotbing, household utensils, and other domestic 
and much advertised things : such, for example, as a frock-coat, 
a round of beef, a foot- warmer, a box of pills. A story, some- 
what on the lines of that which follows, must then be pre- 
pared and copied into a note-book. The company take their 
places and the cards are handed round. These should be held 
face downward. When all is ready one* of the players reads 
the story, pausing at each blank for the player whose turn 
comes next to fill it in by calling out whatever is on his up- 
permost card. No matter how often the game is played (pro- 
vided the cards are re-shuffled) the unexpected always hap- 
pens, and it is usually so absurd as to be quite too much for a 
room all ready for laughter. The number of blanks in the 
story should be equal to the number of cards, and in order 
that the story may run on smoothly it is well for the next 
player always to glance at his top card just before his turn, 
so as to bring it out readily and naturally. The following 
story, which makes provision for nearly fifty cards, should be 
found serviceable until a better and more personal one is 
written. It will add to the amusement if the player who 



82 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

reads it substitutes the names of real shops and, if he likes, 
real people : 

Attention. It was Miss Flitters's birthday, and she woke with a start 
and hurried down to see what the postman had brought. There were five par- 
cels and a letter. The letter was from Miss Bitters. "Dear Miss Flitters," it 
ran, "I am so sorry to hear of your cold, and in the hope that it will do you 

good, I am sending you a . I always find it excellent, although mother 

prefers . We both wish you many happy returns of the day." The other 

presents were, from Miss Ditters a handsome , from Miss Glitters a deli- 
cate , and from Miss Hitters a particularly refined . " Dear me ! " said 

Miss Flitters, " what a useful gift ! just exactly what I wanted." She then sat 

down to breakfast, which, this being a special day, consisted of . "I did 

my best to do it to a turn," said the cook, as she laid it on the table with her 

own hands. "Mary said as how you'd prefer a , but, bless your 'eart, 

Miss Flitters, I know your tastes best. " " You do, indeed, ' ' said Miss Flitters. 
" The thing is perfectly cooked. It 's delicious. It reminds me of . To- 
day," she added, " I am giving a party, and I want you to let us have a very 
charming meal. I will get the things directly after breakfast. What do you 
think we shall need?" "Well, ma'am," said the cook, "you may please 

yourself about everything else, but we 've done without a for so long, that 

I must have one." " Quite right," said her mistress. 

She then prepared for going out ; and seeing that it looked like rain, took 

a from the cupboard and on her head tied a . "Bless your 'eart, 

■mum," cried the cook, " you 've forgot your smelling salts. Suppose you was 
to feel faint — what then ? Never mind, " she added, " this '11 do just as well " 

— handing her a . Miss Flitters hurried off at such a pace that she ran 

right into the minister. " I beg your pardon," she exclaimed, "I mistook you 

for a . " " May I come with you ? ' ' asked the minister. ' ' Most certainly, ' ' 

said Miss Flitters. 

They went first to Buszard's for a , and selected two particularly juicy 

ones. Then to Marshall and Snelgrove's for a . "Is this for the com- 
plexion ? " asked the minister, picking up a from the counter. "La, sir," 

said Miss Flitters, " how little you know of domestic life ! " Then they went 
to Fuller's for a , and to Jay's for a . " It 's too dear," said Miss Flit- 
ters. "Give me a instead. ' ' At the stores they inspected . * ' Haven 't 

you anything fresher? " asked Miss Flitters : " I 'd as soon buy a ." None 

the less she bought two and slipped them into her reticule, adding as a little 
gift for the cook a . 

The party began at six o'clock. The first to come was Miss Kitters. " You 
don't mind my bringing my work, I know, deaf," she exclaimed; "I'm em- 



TABLE AND CARD GAMES 83 

broidering a for the natives of Madagascar, and it must be done soon." 

Miss Litters came next, and being rather short-sighted, sat down on a . 

"Never mind, " said Miss Flitters. '* Oh, I don't," she replied, " but it would 

have been more comfortable if it had been a ." Miss Mitters came just as 

the clock struck. She was wearing a charming trimmed with . 

"What perfect taste she has ! " the others murmured. Miss Nitters followed. 
Miss Nitters was the exact opposite of Miss Mitters in all matters relating to 

dress. She had no taste at all, and was wearing merely a with pompons 

attached, and in place of earrings a couple of . "So fast ! " whispered Miss 

Litters. Miss Fitters, Miss Ritters, and Miss Titters each brought a present. 

Miss Pitters's present was a silver-plated . " So useful for the toilet table, " 

she said. Miss Ritters's was a Japanese , a piece of exquisite workmanship ; 

while Miss Titters produced from her pocket a brown paper parcel which turned 

out to contain a very choice , an heirloom in the Titters family for centuries. 

"I did n't know whether to bring this or a ," she said ; " but father decided 

me. Father always knows best." 

When all were assembled, the guests sat down to supper. But here an 
awkward thing happened. "If you please, mum," the cook was heard to 

whisper in a loud voice, ' ' the has n't come. Shall I get a instead ? " 

"Yes," said Miss Flitters, " that will do very well. Don't you think so, Miss 

Fitters?" "I think," was the reply, "I should prefer ." It was none 

the less an excellent and generous repast. Opposite Miss Flitters was a no- 
ble , flanked by a and a . At the foot of the table was a dish 

of . "I never tasted anything so delicious in my life," said Miss Mitters, 

taking a large helping of . "Oh !" said Miss Glitters, "you should try 

the . It's yumps." The first course was followed by sweets, the most im- 
posing of which was a wonderful frosted with Miss Flitters's name in pink 

sugar. ' ' You must all have a piece, ' ' said the hostess, ' ' but I 'm afraid it 's 
rather rich." 

After supper came games, "Blind Man's Buff" and "Hunt the Slipper," 

but as no one cared to lend a slipper, they used instead a , and it did very 

well. At midnight the party broke up, the guests saying that they never had 
spent a pleasanter evening. As a protection against the cold Miss Flitters gave 
them each a hot , She then hurried to bed and dreamed all night of . 



THINKING. GUESSING, AND ACTING 
GAMES 



THINKING, GUESSING, AND ACTING 
GAMES 

The Ship Alphabet 

THE players sit in a long row, as if in a class at school. 
The one that acts as schoolmaster asks sharply, be- 
ginning at one end, " The name of the letter ? " 
" A," says the player. The schoolmaster turns to the next 
player, " the name of the ship ? " and straightway begins to 
count ten very quickly and sternly. " Andromeda," is per- 
haps rapped out before he reaches that number. " The name 
of the captain ? " " Alfred." " The name of the cargo ? " 
"Armor." "The port she comes from?" "Amsterdam:" 
" The place she is bound for ? " " Antananarivo." " The 
next letter ? " " B," and so on. If the schoolmaster is very 
strict and abrupt with his questions and counting, he can 
drive every idea from the mind of the person he points at. If 
he counts ten before an answer comes, he passes on to the next, 
and the next, and the next, untilthe answer is given. The 
one who gives it moves up above those that failed. The 
game should be played rapidly. 

A variation on this is " When my ship comes in." This 
is played with a handkerchief knotted into a ball. Any letter 
of the alphabet is chosen ; say B. One player throws the 
handkerchief to another, crying out, " When my ship comes 

in it will be laden with. ." The player who catches 

the handkerchief must supply a cargo, beginning with B be- 
fore ten is counted, bees, butterflies, belts, etc. If he fails to 
do this he gives a forfeit. When one letter is exhausted an- 
other is chosen and the game starts over. 

87 



88 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW '? 



I Love My Love 

This is not played now as once it was. In the old way 
the players sat in a line and went steadily through the alpha- 
bet, each one taking a letter in order. This was the form ; — 
" I love my love with an A, because he is [a favorable ad- 
jective beginning with A]. I hate him with an A because he 
is [an unfavorable adjective beginning with A]. He took me 
to the sign of the [an inn sign beginning with A], and treated 
me to [two eatables or an eatable and drinkable beginning with 
A]. His name is [a man's name beginning with A], and he 
comes from [a town or country beginning with A]." Then B, 
and so on. 

A and B might run thus : — 

I love my love ■with an A because he is adorable. I hate him -with an A 
because he is apish. He took me to the sign of the Alderman and treated me 
to arrowroot and ale. His name is Arnold, and he comes from Ayrshire. 

I love my love with a B because he is brisk. I hate him with a B because 
he is bookish. He took me to the sign of the Beetle and treated me to biscuits 
and bovril. His name is Brian, and he comes from Boston. 

There is no reason why men should always be chosen. 
For the sake of variety the love may as well have a woman's 
name and a woman's qualities. In that case the inn might 
perhaps go and some such sentence as this take its place : — 

I love my love with an A because she is amiable. I hate her with an A 
because she is awesome. We went to Uncle Alexander's, and had apricots and 
ApoUinaris. Her name is Audrey, and she comes from Annapolis. 

As finding seven words beginning with one letter is rather 
a heavy task for each player, the words might be taken in turn, 
as in the case of the ^' Ship " game mentioned above. 

For a shorter way of playing " I Love my Love " the fol- 



GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 89 

lowing form is used : — " I love my love with an A because he 

— or she — is [favorable adjective]. I will send him — or her 

— to [some place] and feed him — or her — on [something to 
eat]. I will give him — or her — an [some article, the use for 
which must be mentioned after it], and a bunch of [some 
flower] for a nosegay." Thus ; — 

I love my love with an A because he is artistic. I will send him to Aus- 
tralia, and feed him on asparagus. I will give him an alpenstock to climb with, 
and a bunch of asters for a nosegay. 

My Thought 
The players sit in a row or circle, and one, having thought 
of something — of any description whatever — asks them in 
turn, " What is my thought like ? " Not having the faintest 
idea what the thought is they reply at random. One may say, 
" Like a dog " ; another, " Like a saucepan " ; a third, " Like 
a wet day " ; a fourth, " Like a comic opera. '^ After collect- 
ing all the answers the player announces what the thought 
was, and then goes along the row again calling upon the 
players to explain why it is like the thing named by them. 
The merit of the game lies in these explanations. Thus, per- 
haps the thing thought of was a concertina. The first player, 
asked to show why a concertina is like a dog, may reply, 
" Because when it is squeezed it howls." The next may say, 
" It is like a heavy saucepan because it is held in both hands." 
The third, " It is like a wet day because one soon has enough 
of it " ; and the fourth, " It is like a comic opera because it is 
full of tunes." 

Fs and Q's 

Another old game of this kind is " P's and Q's." The 
players sit in a circle and one stands up and asks them each a 
question in turn. The question takes this form, " The King 
of England [or France, or Germany, or Africa, or Kussia, or 



90 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

India, whatever country it may be] has gone forth with all 
his men. Tell me where he has gone, but mind your P's and 
Q's." The player who is addressed must then reply, naming, 
in whatever country is mentioned, some town that does not 
begin with P or Q or with any letter before P in the alphabet. 
Thus, if the question refers to England, he may say " Salis- 
bury " but not '' Bristol," " Eedruth " but not '' Oxford " ; or 
to France, " Toulon " but not " Lyons," " Versailles " but not 
" Dieppe." 

The game is capable of improvement or, at least, of va- 
riety. For instance, instead of P's and Q's, the questioner 
may say, " Mind your K's and L's," or instead of ruling out all 
letters before P, all letters after Q may be stopped. And one 
need not confine the game to geography, but may adapt it to 
include animals, or eatables, or books. 

The Elements 
The players sit in a circle, and the game is begun by one 
of them throwing a roUed-up handkerchief to another and at 
the same time calling out the name of one of the four elements 
— air, water, earth, or fire. If " Air " is called, the player to 
whom the handkerchief is thrown must at once mention some 
creature that flies. Having done so she throws the handker- 
chief to some one else, calling perhaps " Earth," whereupon 
that player must mention an animal that inhabits the earth. 
And so on. The same animal must not be mentioned twice, 
and when " Fire " is called, the player to whom the handker- 
chief is thrown must keep silence until she throws it on again. 
Sometimes each player, after throwing the handkerchief and 
calling the element, counts ten as the limit of time in which 
the answer must be given. If it is longer in coming, or if 
something is mentioned which has been mentioned before, 
then a forfeit follows. 



GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 91 

Suggestions 

This is a game which people either dislike or like very 
much. The players sit round the fire or table, and one of 
them begins by naming an article of any kind whatever, such 
as watering-pot. The word " watering-pot " will immediately 
suggest something to the next player — say " gardener." He 
therefore says " gardener." The next is perhaps reminded by 
the word "gardener" of a bunch of violets she saw the gar- 
dener carrying that morning, and she therefore says " violets " ; 
the next at once recollects finding violets when she was in the 
country last spring, and she therefore says " Vermont." Thus 
the game goes on for, say, ten rounds, by which time, as we 
have seen already, the minds of the players have been carried 
miles away from the original watering-pot which set them at 
work. It is now necessary to trace the series of suggestions 
back to watering-pot again. This is done by the last player 
mentioning, not the last thing that he thought of, but the 
thing which suggested that to him. (Thus, the player ne^^t him 
may have said, in the last round, " an apple-core," which may 
have suggested to him " Tom Sawyer." He would not, how- 
ever, when the task of retracing begins, say " Tom Sawyer," 
because to repeat your own words is too easy, but " an apple- 
core " and the next player, going backward, in his turn would 
repeat the word which suggested " an apple-core " to him.) 
The second part of the game, retracing the suggestions, is 
naturally more difficult than the first. 

In this game two things are very important. One is, that 
silence should be maintained ; the other, that the word you 
give should be suggested to you only by the previous player's 
remark. Also it is more fun to be quite honest about it, and 
really say what was first suggested, instead of making a 
choice. 



92 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

Quotation Games 
This is a game which requires some poetical knowledge. 
The players sit in a circle and one begins by repeating a line 
of poetrj^. The next caps it by repeating whatever line comes 
next to it in the poem from which it is taken. The poem 
may either be continued or the game may deal only in coup- 
lets or four-lined stanzas. In another quotation game the first 
player repeats a line of poetry and the next follows it wnth 
another line of poetry which begins with the last letter of the 
previous quotation. Thus, if the first player says — 

It was the schooner Hesperus 
That sailed the wintry sea, 

the next might cap it with — 

A man's a man for a' that, 

and the next with — 

The quality of mercy is not strained. 

Two Rhyming Games 
Khyming games require more taxing of brains than most 
players care for. The ordinary rhyming game, without using 
paper, is for one player to make a remark in an easy metre, 
and for the next to add a line completing the couplet. Thus 
in one game that was played one player said — 

It is a sin to steal a pin, 
Much more to steal an apple. 



And the next finished it by adding — 

And people who are tempted to, 
With Satan ought to grapple. 

But this was showing more skill than there is real need for. 



GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 93 

An easier rhyming game is that in which the rhyme has 
to come at the beginning of the line. The players are seated 
in a circle and one begins by asking the next a question of 
any nature whatever, or by making any casual remark, the 
first word of the answer to which must rhyme with the last 
word of the question. The game is then started, each player 
in turn adding a remark to that made by the one before him, 
always observing the rhyming rule. Thus, the original ques- 
tion may be, " Do you like mince pies f " The next player 
may reply, " Wise people always do^ The next, " You, I 
suppose, agree with that f " The next, " Flat you may knock 
me if I donHP The next, '^ WonH you change the subject, 
please ? " And the next : " Eas-i\y ; let 's talk of books." 

Telling Stories 

This is another of those fireside games that need more 
readiness of mind than many persons think a game should ask 
for. The first player begins an original story, stopping im- 
mediately (even in the middle of a sentence) when the player 
who is appointed time-keeper says " IText." The next player 
takes it up ; and so forth until the end comes, either at the 
end of the first round or whatever round seems best. 

Another way is for each player to contribute only a single 
word ; but this is rarely successful, because every one is not at 
the same pitch of attention. Except on the part of the person 
who is narrating there ought to be absolute silence. 

Clumps 
The company, according to the number of persons, divides 
up into two or three or even four groups, or clumps, in differ- 
ent parts of the room, seated closely in circles. As man}'- 
players as there are clumps then go out and decide on some 
extremely out-of-the-way thing which the clumps have to 
guess. In one game, for example, the mine was thought of 



94 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

from which the iron was taken to lay the first railroad rails 
in America. That is the kind of far-fetched and ingenious 
thing. When it is decided upon, the players return to the 
room and take their places, one in the midst of each clump. 
Questions are then put to them the answers to which must be 
either " Yes " or " No," and the clump that discovers the thing 
first is the winner. 

Other Yes and No Games 

The same game can be played without such keen rivalry, 
one player sitting in the midst of a great circle and answering 
questions in turn. There is also a game called " Man and 
Object," in which two players go out and decide upon a man 
(or woman) and something inanimate or not human with 
which he is associated or which he is known to have used, 
such as " Washington and his hatchet," " Whittington and his 
cat," " A druid and his mistletoe-knife." They then return and 
each player asks them each a question in turn until the prob- 
lem is solved. 

The same game is sometimes turned inside out, the players 
that remain in the room deciding upon some one whom the 
player that has gone out has to personate and discover. In 
this case it is he who puts the questions. As he is supposed 
for the time being actually to be the thing thought of, he 
ought to frame his questions accordingly : " Am I living ? " 
" Have I been dead long ? " " Am I a man ? " and so forth. 

My Right-Hand Neighbor 
This is a catch game and useless except when one of the 
company knows nothing about it. That player is sent out of 
the room, and after a due interval is called in again and told 
to guess vvhat the other players have thought of. He may 
ask any questions he pleases that can be answered by " Yes " 
or " No." The thing thought of is each player's right-hand 



GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 95 

neighbor, who is of course so different in every case as to lead 
in time to the total bewilderment of the guesser. 

How, When, and Where 
One player leaves the room, while the others decide on 
some word, the name of a thing for choice (such as tale, tail), 
which has one pronunciation but two or three different mean- 
ings and perhaps spellings. They then sit in a circle or line 
and the other player is called in, his object being, by means 
of questions put in turn to each player, to discover what the 
word is. His questions must take the form, " How do you 
like it ? " " When do you like it ? " and " Where do you like 
it ? " Let us suppose that " tale " is the word thought of. 
" How do you like it ? " he will ask the first of the circle. 
The answer may be, " I like it amusing " (tale). " How do 
you like it ? " he may ask the next. " I like it active " (tail). 
To the next, "When do you like it?" " I like it at night" 
(tale). To the next, " Where do you like it ? " " At the 
end " (tail). To the next, " Where do you like it ? " " In an 
armchair " (tale). And so on until he guesses the word. 

Coffee-Pot 
A similar game is called " Coffee-Pot " or " Tea-Pot." 
In this case also the company think of a word with more than 
one meaning, but instead of answering questions about it they 
make a pretense of introducing it into their answers by put- 
ting the word " coffee-pot " in its place. As the player who 
is guessing is at liberty to put any kind of question he likes 
it is well to choose a word that will go easily into ordinary 
conversation. Let us suppose, for instance, that the word is 
rain, reign, rein. The questions and answers may run some- 
thing like this : — " Are you feeling pretty well to-day ? " 
"I always feel well when there is no coffee-pot " (rain). 
"Have you been reading anything interesting lately?" 



96 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

" Yes, a very interesting book on the present coffee-pot " 
(reign). " I hope your toothache is better." " Thank you, I 
hope its coffee-pot will soon be over" (reign). " Did you walk 
here this evening ? " " No ; we came with the assistance of 
the coffee-pot " (rein). The guesser is allowed to make three 
guesses aloud, but after that he must meditate on the word in 
silence or put questions to test his theories. If the word is a 
verb and a past tense or present tense has to be used in an 
answer, the player says " coffee-potted" or " coffee-potting." 

Throwing Light 
This is much like " How, When, and Where," except that 
instead of asking questions the player, or players, that went 
out sit still and listen to the others talking to each other con- 
cerning the selected word's various meanings. Thus, if it is 
" Spring," the first may remark, " It makes our drives so much 
more comfortable " ; the next, " I am always happier then than 
at any other time"; the next, "To drink there is to know 
what drinking really is " ; and so on. 

Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral. 
This is also a similar game to " How, When, and Where," 
except that the player who goes out of the room has, on his 
return, to guess something belonging to one of these three 
groups. His first question therefore is, " Is it animal ? " Per- 
haps it is not. " Is it vegetable ? " " J^To." He knows then 
that it is mineral, and after that to find out what it is is only 
a matter of time. 

Proverbs 

One or two players go out. The others sit in line and 

choose a proverb having as many words as there are players. 

Thus, if there were eight players, " They love too much who 

die for love " would do ; or if more than eight, two short prov- 



GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 97 

erbs might be chosen. Each player having made certain what 
his word is, the others are called in. It is their duty to find 
out what proverb has been fixed upon, and the means of doing 
so is to ask each player in turn a question on any subject what- 
ever, the answer to which must contain that player's word in 
the proverb. If the first round of questions does not reveal 
the proverb, they go round again and again. 

Shouting Proverbs 
In this game, instead of answering questions one by one, 
when the guesser or guessers come in the players at a given 
signal shout the words which belong to them at the top of 
their voice and all together. The guessers have to separate 
the proverb from the din. 

Acting Proverbs 
This is a very simple acting game. The players should di- 
vide themselves into actors and audience. The actors decide 
upon a proverb, and in silence represent it to the audience as 
dramatically as possible. Such proverbs as " Too many cooks 
spoil the broth," and ''A bad workman quarrels with his 
tools," would be very easy — almost too easy if any stress is 
laid upon guessing. But, of course, although the guessing is 
understood to be part of the fun, the acting is the thing. 

Acting Initials 
Two players go out. The others choose the name of a 
well-known person, public or private, the letters of whose 
name are the same in number as the players left in the room. 
Thus, supposing there are seven persons in the room, the name 
might be Dickens. The letters are then distributed ; each 
player, as soon as he knows which letter is his, selecting some 
well-known living or historical character beginning with the 
same letter, whom he has to describe or personate. To per- 



98 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

senate is more fun than to describe. The players seat them 
selves in the right order to spell the name, and the other two 
are called in. When thej^- are ready the first player, D, is 
called on to describe or impersonate his letter ; and so on in 
the right order. 

Acting Verbs, or Dumb Crambo 
In this game the company divides into two. One half 
goes out, and the one that remains decides upon a verb which 
the others shall act in dumb show. A messenger is then 
despatched to tell the actors what the chosen word rhymes to. 
Thus, if " weigh " were the verb fixed upon, the messenger 
might announce that it rhymes to *' day." It is then well for 
the actors to go through the alphabet for verbs — bay, bray, 
lay, neigh, pay, prey, pray, play, stay, say ; and act them in 
order. When the word is wrong the spectators hiss, but when 
right they clap. If the word chosen has two syllables, as 
" obey," notice ought to be given. 

Guessing Employments 
A very simple game. One player goes out. The others 
decide on some workman to represent, each pretending to do 
some different task belonging to his employment. Thus, if 
they choose a carpenter, one will plane, one will saw, one will 
hammer, one will chisel, and so on. Their occupation has 
then to be guessed. It is perhaps more interesting if each 
player chooses a separate trade. 

Stool of Repentance 
One player goes out. The others then say in turn some- 
thing personal about him — such as, " He has a pleasant voice " ; 
" His eye is piercing " ; " He would look better if he wore a 
lower collar." Those remarks are written down by one of the 
party, and the player is called in and placed on a chair in the 



GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 99 

middle. The recorder then reads the remarks that he has col- 
lected, and the player in the middle has to name the persons 
who made them. 

Eyes 
A sheet, or a screen made of newspapers, is hung up, and 
two holes, a little larger than eyes and the same distance apart, 
are made- in it. Half the players retire to one side of it, and 
half stay on the other. They then look through the holes in 
turn, while those on the opposite side try to name the owner 
of the eyes. The game sounds tame, but the difficulty of rec- 
ognition and the false guesses made soon lead to laughter. 

Making Obeisance 
This is a trick. Those in the company who have never 
played the game go out of the room. One of the inside play- 
ers, who is to represent the potentate, then mounts a chair and 
is covered with a sheet which reaches to the ground. At the 
point where it touches a shoe is placed, the toe of which is just 
visible. In the potentate's hand is a sponge full of water. 
One of the players outside is then invited in ; he is told to 
kneel down and kiss the toe ; the potentate on the chair leans 
forward a little to bring his sponge immediately over the sub- 
ject's head ; and a shower-bath follows. Then another subject 
is admitted, but after a w^hile there is enough water on the 
floor to make them suspicious. 

Mesmerism 
Another trick. The players who are to be mesmerized — 
among them being the one or two who do not know the game 
— stand in a row, each holding a dinner-plate in the left hand. 
The mesmerizer, who also has a dinner-plate, faces them, and 
impresses on them very seriously the importance, if they really 
want to be mesmerized, of doing exactly what he does and not 



100 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

moving their eyes from him in any direction. He then holds 
the plate flat, rubs the first finger of his right hand on the 
bottom of it, and makes an invisible cross on his forehead, on 
each cheek, and on the tip of his nose. That is all. The trick 
lies in the fact that the plates of the players who do not know 
the game have been held in the flame of a candle until they 
are well blacked. This means that when the mesmerism is 
over they each have black marks on their faces, and know 
nothing about it until they are led to a looking-glass. 

Thought-Reading Tricks 

In all thought-reading games it is best that only the two 
performers should know the secret. Of these two, one goes 
out of the room and the other stays in, after having first ar- 
ranged on the particular trick which will be used. Perhaps 
the company will then be asked to settle on a trade. Let us 
say that they decide on a chemist. The other player is then 
called in, and his companion puts questions to him in this 
way : — " You have to name the trade which we have thought 
of.^ Is it a grocer?" " Ko." "Is it a draper?" "]^o." 
" Is it a goldsmith ? " " No. " " Is it a fruiterer ? " " ]S^o." 
"Is it a lawyer?" ":^ro." " Is it a chemist ? " "Yes." This 
will look rather mysterious to some of the company ; but the 
thing is really simple enough. The questioner merely ar- 
ranged with his companion that the trade thought of should 
follow a profession. 

Perhaps on the next occasion the company will be asked to 
think of an article in the room. Let us say that they fix on 
the clock. The questions will then run something like this : 
— " You have to name the article in this room which has been 
thought of. Is it the piano ? " " No." " Is it the curtain- 
rod ? " " No." " Is it the carpet ? " " No." " Is it the fire- 
place ? " " No." " Is it the sideboard ? " " No." " Is it 



GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES loi 

the armchair ? " " No." " Is it the clock ? " " Yes." This 
again is bewildering ; but again the trick is very simple, the 
questioner having arranged that the article shall follow some- 
thing that has four legs. 

A third way is for an article to be touched and for the 
thought-reader to be asked to name it. " Is it this ? " " Is 
it this ? " " Is it this ? " is asked of one thing after another, 
the answer always being " No." " Is it that ? " " Yes." 
The secret is that the article touched is always signified by 
" Is it that ? " But in this case, and in that of the others 
already described, the effect of mystification can be increased 
by arranging beforehand that the article in question shall not 
follow the key phrase immediately, but, say, two questions 
later. 

A fourth way is for the questioner to begin each question 
in due order with a letter of the French word for the article 
touched. Thus, if it were the bell, he might say, " Come now, 
was it the table ? " " Zook, was it the armchair ? " " Or 
the piano ? " " Come now, was it this book ? " " ZTow about 
this hearth-rug ? " " Z'ndeavor to be quick, please. "Was it 
the clock ? " By this time " Cloche " has been spelled, so 
that the next question is, " Was it the bell ? " " Yes." 

In another form of "Thought-reading" the two players 
who know the secret remain in the room long enough for the 
trick to be made sure. One stands in a corner and the other 
calls loudly, " Ebenezer, do you hear ? " (Ebenezer is the 
usual name, but a more attractive one would do.) Ebenezer 
says nothing, but listens attentively to hear who among the 
company speaks first. The other player repeats the question 
and still there is no answer. Soon after that some one will 
perhaps make a remark, and then Ebenezer, having got what 
be Avas waiting for, says, " Yes, I hear." " Then leave the 
room," says the other player, and Ebenezer goes out. The 



102 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <? 

other player then makes a great show of choosing some one 
to touch, but ends by touching the person who spoke first 
after the game began. This done, Ebenezer is called in to say 
who was touched, and every one is puzzled by his knowledge. 

To Guess Any Number Thought of 
With these thought-reading tricks may be put one or two 
arithmetical puzzles. Here is a way to find out the number 
that a person has thought of. Tell him to think of any num- 
ber, odd or even. (Let us suppose that bethinks of 7.) Then 
tell him to double it (14), add 6 to it (20), halve it (10), and 
multiply it by 4 (40). Then ask him how many that makes. 
He will say 40. You divide this in your mind by 2 (20), 
subtract 6 (14), divide by 2 again (Y), and astonish him by 
saying that the number of which he thought was 7. 

To Guess Any Even Number Thought of 
In this case you insist on the number chosen being an 
even number. Let us suppose it is 8. Tell hira to multiply 
by 3 (24), halve it (12), multiply by 3 again (36), and then to 
tell you how many times 9 will go into the result. He will 
say 4. Double this in your mind and tell him that he thought 
of 8. 

To Guess the Result of a Sum 
Another trick. Tell the person to think of a number, to 
double it, add 6 to it, halve it and take away the number first 
thought of. When this has been done you tell him that 3 
remains. If these directions are followed 3 must always 
remain. Let us take 7 and 1 as examples. Thus 7 doubled is 
14 ; add 6 and it is 20 ; halved, it is 10 ; and if the number 
first thought of — 7 — is subtracted, 3 remains. Again, 1 
doubled is 2; 6 added makes 8; 8 halved is 4, and 1 from 4 
leaves 3. 



GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 103 

A more bewildering puzzle is this. Tell as many persons 
as like to, to think of some number less than 1,000, in which 
the last figure is smaller than the first. Thus 998 might be 
thought of, but not 999, and not 347. The amount being 
chosen and written down, you tell each person to reverse the 
digits ; so that the units come under the hundreds, the tens 
under the tens, and the hundreds under the units. Then tell 
them to subtract, to reverse again, and add ; remarking to 
each one that you know what the answer will be. It will 
always be 1089. Let us suppose that three players choose 
numbers, one being 998, one 600, and one 321. Each sets 
them on paper, reverses the figures, and subtracts. Thus: — 

998 500 321 

899 005 123 

099 495 198 

The figures are then reversed and added. Thus : — 

099 495 198 

990 594 891 

1089 1089 1089 

Guessing Competitions 

Guessing competitions, which are of American invention, 
can be an interesting change from ordinary games. In some 
the company are all asked to contribute, as in ^' Book Teas," 
where a punning symbolic title of a book is worn by each 
guest, and a prize is given to the person who guesses most, 
and to the person whose title is considered the best. Thus, a 
person wearing a card having the letter E, represented Mid- 
dlemarch^ and a person with catkins in his buttonhole, HazelVs 
Annual. But simpler devices are just as interesting. 

lu other guessing competitions the preparations are the 



1C4 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

affair of the household which gives the party. It is with 
these that we are concerned here. Giving prizes certainly 
adds to the interest of them. 



Guessing Quantities 
Several articles of number are placed on a table, say a 
box of matches, a bag of beans, a reel of cotton or ball of 
string, a large stone, a stick, a photograph, and various coins 
with the date side turned down. Each of the company is 
provided with a card on which these articles are written, and 
the object is to guess as nearly as possible something about 
each ; for instance, how many matches there are in the box, 
how many beans in the bag, the length of the string, the 
weight of the stone, the length of the stick, the age of the 
person in the photograph, and the date of each coin. The 
right answers are, of course, ascertained beforehand and writ- 
ten on a card in the hostess's possession. 

Observation 
The real name of this game may be something else, but 
" Observation " explains it. A small table is covered with a 
variety of articles, to the extent of some twenty or thirty. It 
is then covered with a cloth and placed in the middle of the 
room. The players stand round it and the cloth is removed 
for a minute (or longer). During that time the aim of each 
player is to note and remember as many of the things as pos- 
sible. The cloth is then put on again and the players have 
five minutes in which to write the fullest list they can of the 
objects seen. 

Scents 
A more puzzling competition is to place a row of large 
bottles on the table, all numbered, at the bottom of each of 



GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 105 

which is a small amount of liquid bearing a noticeable scent. 
Some may be toilet scents, and others medicines or essences 
used in cooking. A card numbered according to the bottles 
is given to each player, and the game is to guess as many of 
the scents as possible. 

The Topsy-Turvy Concert 
The performers in this concert, who should be of nearly the 
same size, take their places behind a sheet stretched across the 
room at the height of their chins. They then put stockings 
on their arms and boots on their hands (or this may be done 
before they come into the room), and stand looking over the 
sheet at the company, with their hands and arms carefully 
hidden. The concert begins by the singing of the first verse 
of a song. Immediately the verse is finished, the singers, 
stooping down so that their heads disappear from view, thrust 
up their arms and wave them about, the effect being that of 
a row of people standing on their heads. The chorus is thus 
sung. Then they pull down their arms and put up their heads 
again and sing the next verse. 

The Dancing Dwarf 
This is a very amusing illusion and easy to arrange. All 
the players but two are sent out of the room and these stand 
behind a table. One stands close to the table, his arms in 
front of him so that the fingers rest on the table. Boots, or 
stockings and shoes, are put on their arms and a long dark 
cloak is thrown over the shoulders of the first player cover- 
ing the one behind him. The one behind furnishes the arms 
by thrusting his out in front. The little feet resting on the 
table show from the folds of the cloak and give the appear- 
ance of a dwarf. The players are then called back and the 
dwarf, whose face should be disguised, performs any feat that 



io6 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

they ask for — he sings a song, or makes a speech or prophe- 
sies the future of any one who desires it, always ending with 
a wild dance performed by the arms and hands of the other 




The Dancing Dwaef 

person. The light should be turned down somewhat and the 
audience should be straight in front of the table to keep the 
illusion at its best. 

Charades 
" Charades " can be written in advance and carefully re- 
hearsed, but in this book we are concerned more nearly with 
those that are arranged a few minutes (the fewer the better) 
before they are performed. As a rule a word of two or 
three syllables is chosen, the syllables are first acted, then the 



GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 107 

whole word, and then the audience guess what it was. Some- 
times the word is brought in, both in its complete form and 
in its syllables ; and sometimes — and this is perhaps the bet- 
ter way — it is acted. Thus, if the word were " Treason," 
one way would be to make the acts themselves anything that 
occurred to you, merely saying " Tree " witii some distinct- 
ness in the first ; " Son " or " Sun " in the second ; and 
*' Treason " in the third. The other and more interesting way 
would be to make the first act relate to tree-felling or tree- 
planting, or, say, a performance by Mr. Tree ; the second to 
a son or the sun ; and the third to some treasonable situation, 
such as, for example, the Gunpowder Plot. On account of 
the time which is occupied in preparing and acting it is better 
to choose two-syllabled words — which, with the whole world, 
make three scenes — than three- or four-syllabled ones; al- 
though there are certain four-syllabled words which split 
naturally into two halves of two syllables each. " Parsi- 
mony," for example, could be performed : Parsee, money, 
parsimony. As a general rule the charades that are arranged 
during the evening are better performed in dumb show, with 
plenty of action, than with any talking at all. Under the cir- 
cumstances gestures are so much easier than words and not 
any less amusing. 

Dumb Performances 
Yery good fun can be had also from impromptu panto- 
mimes, where the performers enact some story which every 
one knows, such as " Aladdin " or " Ked Hiding Hood " or 
" Cinderella " ; or a scene from history proper, or from village 
or family history. The contrast between the splendor of 
Cinderella's carriage in the story and the old perambulator 
which has to serve in the charade only adds to the fun. 
Every one, being dumb, acts to the utmost. It is sometimes 



io8 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW*? 

more amusing if all the parts are turned upside down and q 
hoy plays the heroine and a girl the hero. Where the scene 
is too tremendous for any representation to be given, it is best 
to meet the case frankly and use, as they did in Shakespeare's 
day, written labels, such as " This is Aladdin's Palace." 

Dressing Up 

It is, of course, much more fun to dress up ; but dressing 
up is not so important that a charade is spoiled without it. 
If, on the day of your party, you know that charades will play 
a part in it, it is wise to put in a convenient room a number 
of things suitable to dress up in. Then at the last minute 
there need be no furious running up-stairs to pull things out 
of closets and boxes, and the unpleasantness will be 
avoided which sometimes follows when you have taken some- 
body's best clothes for a rather violent performance. 

Almost the best garment there is for dressing-up purposes 
is a fur coat. While priceless for Eed Kiding Hood's wolf it 
will make also most of the other animals in the Zoo. A sol- 
dier's uniform is a great possession, and a real policeman's 
helmet has made the success of many charades. Most kinds 
of hat can, however, easily be made on the morning of a party 
out of brown paper. Epaulettes and cockades are also easily 
made of the same material. Powder or flour for white hair, 
some corks for moustaches and beards (you hold them in the 
candle for a minute and wait till they are cool enough to 
use), and a packet of safety-pins should be in bandy places. 
Cherry tooth-paste makes serviceable rouge. 

Tableaux Vivants 
" Tableaux Yivants " are a change from acting, but they 
need, if done at all well, a great deal of preparation and re- 
hearsal, and are therefore perhaps better left to older people. 



GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 109 

But quickly-arranged groups representing (not too seriously) 
scenes in American history might be good fun. 

Remarks on Acting 
The drawback to all charades and dressing up at a party 
is that they make away with so much valuable time of the 
players who are out of the room, and unsettle those who are 
left in. It should be the first duty of every one taking part 
in acting at parties to decide quickly on the subject or word, 
and to perform it quickly. Many and many a party has been 
spoiled by the slowness of the actors outside. Historical or 
family scenes with no dressing up and some action are per- 
haps better than much dressing up and absolute stillness. In 
"Canute and the "Waves," for example, it is better that the in- 
coming tide should be represented by a boy rolling slowly 
over the carpet than that there should be nothing but fixed 
eyes and stern faces. 



RAINY-DAY GAMES 



RAINY-DAY GAMES 

THIS is a chapter written to meet the needs of sev- 
eral children shut up together in bad weather. The 
chapter on " Indoor Occupation and Things to Make " 
gives suggestions for a single child, but here are a few sug- 
gestions for several occupations for a group of children, which 
do not mean the destruction of the furniture. 

Any one of the games given in the chapter " In the 
Train " is suitable for rainy days. 

There are of course many games treated elsewhere in 
this book which can be played on rainy days indoors. Many 
of the parlor and outdoor games are equally suitable for in- 
doors. All the card games and back-gammon, checkers, etc., 
are invaluable resorts in case of a long dreary day, but there 
are a few other recreations which, in some families are saved 
for such occasions. 

Bean-Bags 

One of these is the old fashioned game of bean-bag. One 
rainy morning can be spent in making the outfit. The girls 
can be occupied in making the cloth bags, from six to ten 
inches square, partly filled with beans : and the boys in mak- 
ing the board which is shown in the illustration. 

It should be about three feet square of any sort of boards 
and propped up at one side so that it forms an inclined plane. 
Five holes are cut in it, about seven inches square, all but the 
centre one which is only five inches square. The players stand 
off from six to twelve feet according as their skill increases 
with practice and try to throw the bags through the holes. 
There are various rules for playing the game which you can. 

113 



1 14 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

arrange to suit yourself, or to make a change. One way is 
have the bags in sets of six, each six being of one color, dif- 
ferent from the others. The players stand in a line and all 
throw at once, trying to get their six bags in the holes as soon 




Bean-Bag Board 

as possible. When they have thrown their bags they rush up 
to the board, gather up those which have gone wild and run 
back to the firing line. The one who gets his six bags in first 
wins the game. A bag thrown through the small centre hole 
counts as two. 

Another way to play it is to throw in turn, each throw- 
ing all his six bags one after another. The one who gets most 
in is the winner. 

Ring-Toss 

Ring-toss is another game in which skill can be acquired 

only through practice and it is very good for rainy-days. It 

is really indoor quoits, and is a favorite game for shipboard. 

Any one with a little patience and care can raake the rings 



RAINY-DAY GAMES 115 

which are of rope fastened together with slanting seam, 
wound with string so that there is no bulging, overlapping 
hump at one side. 

A stake is nailed upright to a board (the stake can be a 
section of an old broom handle, or a smooth, small, straight 




Rope Eing 

peeled branch of a tree) and the outfit for the game is com- 
plete. It is played with the same rules as quoits (see "Outdoor 
Games for Boys "), and a very considerable degree of skill can 
be obtained by practice. As in pitching quoits, the rings 
should be thrown with a little level twist to make them whirl 
about. 

Ring-the-Nail 
A variation of this can be played with common large nails 
and brass curtain rings. Eight nails are driven into a board 
in a circle, leaving about an inch sticking up. In the centre, 
one is driven, standing about three inches tall. Small rings, 
curtain rings, for instance, are thrown toward this. Each 
time they encircle one of the lower nails is counted five, and 
the centre nail ten. 



ii6 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

Soap-Bubbles 

A soap-bubble race is easy to arrange and very good fun. 
An old shawl or blanket is laid on a table or the floor, goals 
are made at each end of it with piles of books, leaving an 
opening between, and each person is provided ^vith a pipe for 
blowing bubbles. One bowl of soap-bubbles is enough for the 
company (see page 279 on the best way to make lasting soap-bub- 
bles). The game is to see who can most quickly blow a bubble, 
deposit it on the woolen cloth at one end and blow it through 
the goal at the other. Of course you try to direct your puffs 
so that you will not only blow your own bubble along but will 
force your opponent's back. 

Another way is to stretch a cord across the room and di- 
vide into two sides, standing three feet from the cord. At 
a given signal dip your pipes in the bowl of soap-suds, blow a 
bubble, and try to blow it over the cord. The side which suc- 
ceeds in landing most bubbles in the enemy's territory wins* 

Jack-Stones 

A game which is good, quiet fun for a rainy day is Jack- 
stones. Although not played much nowadays it is very in- 
teresting and is to indoors what ^' mumble-the-peg " is to out- 
doors. It is played usually with small pieces of iron with six 
little feet : but it can also be played with small pebbles all of 
a size. All kinds of exercises can be used, many of which you 
can invent yourself but a few of the commonest are given 
below. 1. The five stones are thrown up and caught on the 
back of the hand. 2. Four of the stones are held in the hand 
while one is thrown up. They must then be laid on the table, 
or floor, in time to catch the stone before it comes down. It 
is then thrown up again, and the four stones are picked up 
either one at a time or all together, and the stone caught again. 

Nearl}^ all the exercises are variations of this. One stone 



RAINY-DAY GAMES 117 

is thrown up and diflerent things must be done quickly with 
the others before it falls again. 

Tying Knots 

Another occupation for rainy days that will interest seT- 
eral children (as well as one) is puzzling out the construction 
of some of the simplest sailor's knots. This is a useful and a 
very desirable accomplishment. Often several together can 
solve a difficult knot better than one, and after some pro- 
ficiency is acquired it is interesting to have a competition to see 
who can tie them most quickly and perfectly. Every one is 
supplied with a piece of clothes-line (the best rope for this pur- 
pose) and some one calls out " Running J^oose," or " Figure of 
Eight." Every one must then make this as quickly as pos- 
sible. 

It is impossible to give directions in words about tying 
knots. The best way is to get clear illustrations and then 
work over them until you have mastered the intricacies. A 
few simple knots are shown here, but there are many books 
which give an almost endless variety. 




Fig. 1. Overhand Knot 



ii8 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW* 




Fig. 2. Half-Hitch 




Fig. 3. Figure of Eight 




Fig. 4. Common Bend 




Fig. 5. Sailoe's Knot 



RAINY DAY-GAMES 



119 




Fig. 6. Running Noose 




Fig. 7. Ceossed Running Noose 




Fig. 8, Bowline Knot 



120 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 




Fig. 9. DoGSHANK 

Illustrating 

A competitive game which is easy to manage is hit-or- 
miss illustrating. Any old magazine (the more the better) 
will furnish the material. Figures, furniture, landscape, ma- 
chines — anything and everything — is cut out from the ad- 
vertisement or illustrations, and put in a box or basket in the 
middle of the table. Every one is given a piece of paper and 
a proverb is selected for illustrating. Twenty minutes is al- 
lowed to choose suitable pictures, to paste them on to sheets 
of paper and to add, with pencil, accessories that are neces- 
sary : and then results are compared. The variety and excel- 
lence of these patchwork pictures are surprising. This can 
be played during convalescence. It is not necessary to se- 
lect a proverb for illustrating. Any suggestive title will do. 
A few that have been found fruitful of varied and spirited 
pictures are given here. 



A trying moment. 

Companions in misery. 

This is ray busy day. 

" I did n't know it was loaded." 

His proudest moment. 

The unhappy experimenter. 

The best of friends. 

A great scare. 

Fine weather for ducks. 

"Won't you have some? " 

** Don't w© m^ke a pretty piotv^re ? " 



Too busy to stop. 

No harm done. 

" I didn't mean to do it." 

Stage-struck. 

A great success. 

"See you later." 

A temporary quarrel, 

A narrow escape. 

A happy family. 

The peace-maker. 

A bapp7 motb§r, 



RAINY-DAY GAMES 



121 



Shuffle-Board 
A game which is often played on shipboard can be modi- 
fied for an indoor, rainy day game very easily. This is shuffle- 
board, all the outfit for which you can easily make yourself. 
If you can have a long table that scratching will not injure 
your board is all ready, but you can easily procure a common, 
smooth-finished piece of plank, two feet wide, if possible, and 



r20\ 


4 ' 


6 


8 


10 


5 


3 


2 





four feet long. On one end mark a diagram like the preced- 
ing, about ten inches by eight inches. Mark a line at the 
other end of the board about four inches from the edge, put 
your counters on the line and you are ready to play. The 
counters may be checkers (or any round pieces of wood) or 
twenty-five cent pieces, or large flat buttons, although discs 
of lead are the best because the heaviest. Your pusher should 



122 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

be a little tool made especially, like the illustration, about a 
foot long, and anybody with a jack-knife can whittle a satis- 
factory " shovel " as it is called. 

But if an impromptu game is desired, your counters may be 
pushed off with a common ruler, with a long lead-pencil, or 
even snapped with the Janger nail, though this is apt to hurt. 
Each player has six counters which he plays by three's, thus . 
one person begins by shoving off three of his counters toward 
the board on the end, trying to make them fall on the places 
that count the highest. The next player then shoots three of his 
counters, trying not only to place his own men well but to dis- 
lodge his adversar3^'s men if they are in good places. After 
all have played in turn, the first player shoots his other three 
counters and so on till all have played again. At the close of 
each round the board is inspected and each person is credited 
with the sum of the numbers on which his men rest. The 
game is continued thus, until some one has reached the limit 
set, which may be a hundred, or fifty, or any other number ac- 
cording to the skill of the players. 

The counters of each player may be distinguished from 
the others by any distinctive sign marked on them. They 
must not be pushed along but struck a sharp blow with your 
shovel. The head of your shovel must not pass the line 
marked for the counters. Counters which rest on, or touch a 
line do not count. A. very considerable degree of skill can be 
attained in this game and it is a never failing resource on dull 
days. 

A rainy day is a good time to practice various tricks and 
puzzles so as to perfect yourself in performing them. 

Balancing Tricks 
There are a number of balancing tricks which are easy and 
ingenious. The secret of most such tricks is in keeping the 



RAINY-DAY GAMES 



123 



centre of gravity low, and when this idea is once mastered you 
can invent tricks to suit yourself. For instance a tea-cup can 
be balanced on the point of a pencil thus : put a cork through 
the handle of the cup (it should be just large enough to be 
pushed in firmly) and stick a fork into it, with two prongs on 





Fig. 2 




Fig. 4 



Fig. 3 



each side of the handle, and with the handle under the bottom 
of the cup. (Fig. 1.) The centre' of gravity is thus made low, 
and if you experiment a little and have a little skill, and a 
steady hand you can balance the whole on a pencil's point. 

Or you can balance a coin edgeway on a needle's point. 
The needle is stuck firmly into the cork of a bottle, and the coin 



124 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

is fixed in a slit cut in a cork, in which two forks are stuck. 
(Fig. 2.) 

The simplest of these tricks is to balance a pencil on the 
tip of your finger by sticking two pen-knives in it, one on each 
side. (Fig. 3.) 

A cork with two forks stuck in it can be made to balance 
almost anywhere — on the neck of a bottle from which the con- 
tents are being poured for instance. (See fig. 4.) 

Amusing toys can be constructed on this principle. 
Tumbling dolls are made of light wood or cork, glued to the 
flat side of a half bullet. JSTo matter how often they are knocked 
flat, they rise again at once. 

The Dancing Egg 
Another good trick that needs a little practice is to make 
an egg dance. Boil an egg hard, keeping it in an upright 
position (between cups set in the water or in some other 
way). Then turn a plate bottom side up and put the egg on 
it. Turn the plate around, more and more quickly, always 
holding it flat and level, and the egg will rise on its end and 
stand quite straight while it spins about. 

The Dancing Pea 
A pea can be made to dance on a column of air as you 
sometimes see a rubber ball rising and falling in a fountain 
of water. Take a piece of a clay pipe about three inches long, 
and make one end into a little rounded cup, by cutting the 
clay carefully with a knife or file. Then run two small pins 
cross-wise through a big, round pea, put the end of one pin in 
the pipe and hold the pipe in an upright position over your 
mouth. Blow gently through the pipe and the pea will dance 
up and down. 



RAINY-DAY GAMES 125 

The Glass-Maker 
Another trick to play with pins is the glass-making pin. 
Cut an ordinary rubber band in two, and stick a bent pin 
through the middle of this. ISi ow hold an end of the elastic 
in each hand and whirl it rapidly around, stretching it a 
little. The revolving pin will at once assume the appearance 




The Glass-Maker 



of a tiny glass vase, or tumbler, and the shape can be varied at 
will. It is best to have a strong ray of light on the pin and 
the rest of the room darkened. 

Electricity 
Various tricks can be played by means of the electricity 
in paper. Ordinary sealing wax, rubbed briskly on a coat- 
sleeve until it is warm will attract bits of tissue paper, or any 
other soft paper. A variation on jack-straws can be played 
by means of this trick. Tiny scraps of tissue paper, each 
numbered, are piled in the centre of the table and each player 
by means of a piece of sealing wax tries to draw out the great- 
est number in the shortest time. This is a fascinating game 
and arranged impromptu in a very short time. The pieces of 
paper need not be of tissue paper, as any very thin paper will 
do. They should be about a quarter of an inch wide by an 
inch long and numbered up to twenty. They must be re- 
moved from the centre pile and put in piles before the players 
without touching with the fingers. It will be found that 
shaking them off the sealing wax is often harder than making 



126 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW *? 

them stick to it. Of course an effort should be made to secure 
those pieces of paper which have the largest numbers on them, 
as a few of these count more than many of the others. 

Electric dancers are easy to make. Cut little figures out 
of tissue paper and lay them on the table. Put on each side 
of them two books and lay a sheet of glass over them about 
an inch and a half above them. Kub the glass briskly with a 
flannel cloth and they will jump up and down. 




Electeic Dancers 

A rubber comb rubbed with a silk handkerchief will at- 
tract small bits of paper, feathers or wool. Various games and 
tricks can be devised by this means, such as " bringing the 
dead to life," i. e., raising paper figures to an upright position 
from a grave made of books, or a box. 



OUTDOOR GAMES FOR GIRLS 




Outdoor Games for Gtrls (^Facing page 128) 



o 



OUTDOOR GAMES FOR GIRLS 

UTDOOR games for girls and outdoor games for 
boys are very often the same, although they are sep- 
arated here for the sake of convenience. 



Battledore and Shuttlecock 
" Battledore and Shuttlecock " is equally good for one 
player or for two. The only game to be played is to see how 
long the shuttlecock can be kept in the air. If you are alone 
the best way is to set yourself a number, say a hundred, and 
persevere until you reach it. This can be varied by striving 
to reach, say, thirty, by first hitting the ball each time as hard 
as possible, and then hitting it very gently so that it hardly 
rises at all. 

Jumping Rope 
Ordinary skipping is good enough fun for most of us, but 
for those who are not satisfied with it there is skipping ex- 
traordinary, one feat of which is now and then to send the 
rope round twice before you touch the ground again. To do 
this, as it cannot be done with a mere rope, you must make a 
new rope of whipcord, in the middle of which you place a 
small chain about a foot long. This chain gives the weight 
necessary for whirling the rope very swiftly through the air. 

Tom Tiddler's Ground 
The player who is first going to be Tom Tiddler stands or 
sits inside the part of the garden (or room) marked off for him, 
pretending to be asleep. The others venture on his ground, 
crying, " Here we are on Tom Tiddler's ground, picking up 
gold mi sUver»" As Tom still sleeps they grow bolder and 

129 



130 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

bolder until he suddenly awakens and dashes for them. The 
one that is caught becomes Tom Tiddler. Tom may not cross 
the boundary-line. 

Old Stone 
Another " Tom Tiddler's Ground." One player crouches 
down pretending to be a stone. The others run round about 
her, gradually, as she shows no sign of life, getting nearer 
and more bold. The stone suddenly leaps up and begins to 
chase them, and the one caught is the old stone. 

Hen and Chickens 
Even more exciting than " Tom Tiddler's Ground " is 
" Hen and Chickens." In this game one player represents a 
fox and sits on the ground looking sly and hungry. The oth- 
ers, who are the hen and chickens, form a procession, holding 
each other's skirts or coats by both hands, and march past the 
fox, saying in turn — 

Chickany, chiokany, crany crow, 

I went to the well to wash my toe, 

And when I came back a chicken was dead. 

Then they leave go of each other and stand round the fox, and 
the leader, the hen, says, " What are you doing, old fox ? " 
The fox replies, " Making a fire " ; and the conversation goes 
on like this : — 

The Hen : What for? 
The Fox : To boil some water. 
The Hen : What is the water for ? 
The Fox : To scald a chicken. 
The Hen : Where will you get it? 
The Fox : Out of your flock. 

With these words the fox springs up and the hen and chickens 
run in all directions. The chicken that is caught becomes the 
new fox, and the old fox is the new hen, the leader of the 
procession. 



OUTDOOR GAMES FOR GIRLS 131 

The same game is played by Essex children with an old 
woman in place of the fox, and with different words. In this 
case the hen and chickens make a procession in front of a 
player who personates an old weeping woman. As they 
march by, the hen sings — 

Chickens, come clock, come clock, come clock. 
Chickens, come clock, come clock, come clock, 
The hawks are away and the crows are asleep, 
It's time that my chickens had something to eat. 

Then they leave go of each other and stand round the old 
weeping woman, and between her and the hen the following 
conversation is held : 

The Hen : What are you crying for, my poor old woman? 

The Old Woman: Because I 've lost my needle. 

The Hen : What do you want a needle for ? 

The Old Woman : To sew a bag with. 

The Hen ; What do you want a bag for ? 

The Old Woman : To put salt in. 

The Hen : What do yoa want salt tor ? 

The Old Woman : To scour a saucepan. 

The Hen : What do you want a saucepan for ? 

The Old Woman : To boil one of your chickens in. 

The old woman then leaps up and tries to catch a chicken, 
and the hen tries to stop her. 

Other Garden Games 
Many of the games described in other parts of this book 
are good also for the garden ; such as " Still Pond ! No More 
Moving!" (p. 4), "Puss in the Corner" (p. 7), "Honey-pots" 
(p. 11), " JS'uts in May " (p. 12), " Here I Bake " (p. 13), " Lady 
Queen Anne " (p. 20), " The Mulberry Bush " (p. 28), and 
" Looby, Looby " (p. 29). 

Witches 

" Witches " is a home-made game played thus, according 
to the description of E. H. : — " One player is made witch. A 



132 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

good spot is chosen for home, and here the others wait until 
the witch has had time to hide. The idea is that the country 
round is preyed upon by the witch, home being the only place 
where she has no power. The rest of the children have to 
explore the witch's country without being caught by her. It 
must be a point of honor to leave no suspicious place unex- 
amined. The child chosen for witch need not be a particularly 
fast runner, but she must be clever and a good dodger. Any 
one that the witch succeeds in touching is at once turned to 
stone and may not stir except as she is moved about by the 
witch, who chooses a spot to stand her victim in as far re- 
moved from home as possible. The stone can be released only 
by some other child finding her and dragging her safely home, 
where the spell ceases to act. But until actually home the 
victim remains stone, so that if the rescuer is surprised by the 
witch and lets go her hold, the stone has to stand where she 
is left and is so recovered by the wutch. The witch must not, 
of course, guard her prisoners too closely. She ought to try 
and intercept the rescuers on their way home, rather than 
spring upon them in the act of finding the stone. But each 
time the stone is recovered the witch may place her in a more 
inaccessible spot, so that it becomes more and more dangerous 
to release her. Sometimes at the end of the game all the 
children are turned to stone in different parts of the garden, 
but sometimes, of course, a swift runner will outstrip the witch 
and drag the victim safely home. A clever witch acts the 
part too — appearing and disappearing suddenly, prowling 
about in a crouching attitude, making gestures of hate and 
rage, and so on." 

The Ballad Game 
Another home-made game is described by E. H. thus : — 
" The game is taken from the player's favorite ballads. In our 



OUTDOOR GAMES FOR GIRLS 133 

play the eldest of the four players, who was also the best or- 
ganizer, represented the cruel father. The youngest little girl 
was the fair damsel. The other two represented the wicked 
lover and the faithful knight, the part of the faithful knight 
being taken by the fleetest of the party to balance the combi- 
nation of the father and the wicked lover. The game begins 
by the fair damsel being imprisoned in the coach-house because 
she refuses to marry the wicked lover. (Of course any shed 
would do.) Here she waits until her knight comes to rescue 
her, and they escape together, pursued by the other two. If 
the lovers succeed in getting away the story has a happy end- 
ing ; but the more dramatic ending is the tragic one, when 
the faithful knight is overtaken, and after killing the cruel 
father and the wicked lover, himself dies of his wounds, the 
fair damsel slaying herself with his sword over his dead 
body. 

" The interest of this game is greatly increased by having 
retainers. These are armies of sticks which are planted at 
particular corners. There must be some mark by which your 
own retainers can be distinguished from the enemy's. For in- 
stance, the faithful knight may have peeled sticks and the 
others unpeeled. If, when charging round the house, you 
come across a troop of the enemy's retainers, you cannot go 
on until you have thrown them all down, as they are set to 
guard the pass. So, if the lovers are escaping and they find 
their way blocked by the father's retainers (the father and the 
wicked lover may have separate sets of retainers, in which case 
the war is always bitterest between the two rivals, as the 
father's retainers are sometimes spared for the damsel's sake) 
they have to lose time by first overcoming the retainers and 
that gives time to their pursuers to come up. But if they are 
so far in advance that they can stop to set up their own re- 
t^ainers in the place of the enemy, it serves to give them 



134 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW '? 

further time to make good their escape, as the others have to 
wait to overthrow the knight's sticks in their turn. In no case 
are you allowed to take away your enemy's sticks. If the lovers 
are overtaken, the rivals have to fight, and meanwhile the 
father once more carries off and imprisons the damsel." 

Counting-Out Rhymes 
To decide who is to begin a game there are various count- 
ing-out rhymes. All the players stand in a circle, surround- 
ing the one who counts. At each pause in the rhyme (which 
occurs wherever a stroke has been placed in the versions which 
follow) this one touches the players in turn until the end is 
reached. The player to whom the last number comes is to be- 
gin. This is one rhyme : — 

Eena-a, | deen-a, ] dine-a, | dust, | 
Cat'll-a, I ween-a, | wine-a, | wust, | 
Spin, I spon, | must | be | done, | 
Twiddlum, | twaddlum, | twenty-one. | 
O- I U- I T 1 spells I out. I 



Others : — 



Intery, | mintery, 1 cutery | corn, | 
Apple I seed | and | apple | thorn ; | 
Wine, I brier, | limber | lock, | 
Five I geese | in | a | flock ; | 
Sit and sing | by a spring | 
O- I U- I T I and I in I again. | 

One-ery, | two-ery, | 

Ziccary | zan ; | 
Hollowbone, | crack-a-bone, | 

Ninery, | ten ; | 
Spittery | spot, | 

Must I be I done, j 
Twiddledura, | twaddledum, 

Twenty-one. 



OUTDOOR GAMES FOR GIRLS 135 

Eing I around | a ring-pot, | 

One spot I two spot | three spot | san | 

Bob-tailed | winnie-'wack 1 tittero | tan j 

Ham I Scram | 

Fortune -| man | 

Singum | sangam ] Buck ! | 

Daisy Chains 
The old way of making a daisy chain is to split one stalk 
and thread the next through it up to the head, as in this draw- 




Daisy Chain 

ing. That is for out-of-doors. If you are using the chain for 
decorations indoors, it is perhaps better to cut off the stalks 
and thread the heads on cotton ; but there seems to be no great 
need to use daisies in this way at all. 

An ivy chain is made by passing the stalk of one leaf 
through the point of another and then bending it round and 




Ivy Chain 
putting it through the point of its own leaf, the hole thus 
made being used for the stalk of the next, and so on, as in 
this drawing. 



136 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW 1 

Flower Show 
A flower-show competition is an excellent garden game. 
A handkerchief on sticks forms the tent. Underneath this is 
a bed of sand in ^vhich the flowers, singly or in groups, can 
be fixed. Some one can easily be persuaded to come out of 
the house to act as judge. 

Garden Shop 
Shop in the garden or out-of-doors is played with various 
things that resemble articles of food. Thus you can get ex- 
cellent coffee from sorrel, and capital little bundles of rhubarb 
can be made by taking a rhubarb leaf and cutting the ribs 
into stalks. Small stones make ver}^ good imitation potatoes, 
and the heads of marguerite daisies on a plate will easily pass 
for poached eggs. 

Flower Symbols 
In this place a word might be said about some of the 
curious things to be found in flowers and plants. If you cut 
the stalk of a brake fern low down, in September, you find a 
spreading oak tree. The pansy contains a picture of a man 
in a pulpit. A poppy is easily transformed into an old woman 
in a red gown. The snap-dragon, when its sides are pinched, 
can be made to yawn. The mallow contains a minute cheese. 
By blowing the fluff on a dandelion that has run to seed you 
can tell (more or less correctly) the time of day. An ear of 
barley will run up your sleeve if the pointed end is laid just 
within it ; and an apple's seeds make exquisite little mice. 

Summer Houses 
If the garden has no summer-house or tent a very good 
one can be made with a clothes-horse and a rug. 



OUTDOOR GAMES FOR BOYS 




OuTDOOE Games foe Boys (Facing page 138) 



OUTDOOR GAMES FOR BOYS 

THIS book is written for children who need help 
in amusing themselves. It is natural that there 
should be some difficulty about thinking of games 
for indoors, or when there is a problem of a large company to 
amuse ; but it is hard to imagine any healthy boy, turned 
loose out of doors, who cannot take care of his own entertain- 
ment. The number of things to do is without limit and the 
boy so uninventive as to be at a loss with all outdoors before 
him must be in a sad way. Hence there has been no effort 
made in this chapter to make an exhaustive list of outdoor 
games, only those being given which are suggestive, that is, 
which can be infinitely varied according to your ingenuity ; 
which are, so to speak, the first of a series. 

Also, the rules of regular games are not given here (such 
as baseball, football, hocky, etc.). There are plenty of small 
manuals, given away with the outfits for these games, which 
print in much more detail than would be possible here, their 
principles. More than that, most boys absorb a general 
knowledge of these games through their pores, and need a 
book only to settle some small, knotty, disputed point of 
ruling. 

One of the best things to have when out of doors is a 
ball. There is no end to the uses one can make of it. 

Ball Games 
The simplest thing to do with a ball is to catch it ; and 
the quicker one is in learning to catch well the better base- 
ball player one will become. Ordinary catching in a ring is 
good, but the practice is better if you try to throw the ball 
each time so that the player to whom you throw it shall not 

139 



140 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

need to move his feet in order to catch it. This teaches 
straight throwing too. Long and high throwing and catch- 
ing, and hard throwing and catching (standing as close to- 
gether as you dare), are important. There is ako dodge- 
catching, where you pretend to throw to one player and 
really throw to another and thus take him unawares. All 
these games can be varied arit nade more difficult by using 
only one hand, right or left, for catching. 

Ball Games Alone 
A boy with a ball need never be very lonely. When tired 
of catching it in the ordinary way he can practice throwing the 
ball straight into the air until, without his moving from his 
place, it falls absolutely on him each time. He can throw it 
up and catch it behind him, and if he has two others (or 
stones will do) he can strive for the juggler's accomplishment 
of keeping three things in the air at once. Every boy should 
practice throwing with his left hand (or, if he is already left- 
handed, with his right) : a very useful accomplishment. If it 
is a solid india-rubber ball and there is a blank wall, he can 
make it rebound at different angles, one good way being, in 
throwing it, to let it first hit the ground close to the wall's 
foot. He may also pledge himself to catch it first with the 
right hand and then with the left for a hundred times ; or to 
bat it up a hundred times with a tennis racket or a flat bit of 
board. An interesting game for one is to mark out a golf 
course round the garden, making a little hole at intervals of 
half a dozen yards or so, and see hoAv many strokes are needed 
in going round and getting into each hole on the way. 

Races 
All kinds of races are easy to arrange and these can be re- 
peated from day to day as your proficiency increases. Here 
are a few. 



OUTDOOR GAMES FOR BOYS 141 

The Spanish race, sometimes called the Wheelbarrow 
race, is played by forming the boys into two lines, one standing 
back of the other, and the front row on their hands and 
knees. At a signal to begin, each boy on the back row takes 
hold of the ankles of the boy in front of him and lifts his 
knees off the ground. The boy in front walking on his hands, 
and the boy behind trundli' nim along, make the greatest 
haste possible. The pair who first reach the goal are the 
winners. 

Kaces may be run, hopping on the right foot, or on the 
left, or with both together, or with first a hop and then a 
jump. It is well to appoint one of the boys umpire during 
these odd races, to see that they are run fairly and none of 
the rules agreed upon are broken. 

A sack race is fun. Each boy is tied into a gunny 
sack and shuffles his way to the goal. A substitute for this is 
the three-legged race, run by two boys. They stand side by 
side, and the right leg of one is tied to the left leg of the 
other and so with three legs between them they must some- 
how get to the goal. 

Hands and knees races, backward races (run with your 
back* to the goal), races with burdens on your back, or balanc- 
ing a pole across your hand or on the tip of your 
finger — there is no limit to the ones you can invent. 

But the best ones, after all, are the plain old trials of 

•^speed. There is no more fun than a good running race, and a 

walking race is next to it. Bicycle races are apt to be 

dangerous and a course that is very wide should always be 

selected. 

Quoits 

Quoits is a game not played as much as it should be by 
American boys. It is easy to arrange, for although there is 



142 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

an outfit sold in the toy shops, a home-made one is just as 
good. It consists of a collection of horseshoes and a stake 
driven in the ground — certainly not a difficult appa- 
ratus to assemble. The stake should not project more than an 
inch above the ground and the players, according to the 
grown-up rules, should stand about fifteen yards away from 
the stake (which is usually called " the hub '* ). But for boys 
the distance from the hub can be determined by your skill. 
You may increase it as you improve with practice. Every 
player has a certain number of quoits (horseshoes) and stand- 
ing at a fixed distance from the hub he tries to pitch them so 
that they will go as near as possible to the hub. Some very 
good players can cast a quoit so that it falls about the hub. 
This is called a " ringer " and counts ten, but it is a rare shot. 
Every one pitches his quoits and then all go to the hub and 
reckon up the score. The one whose quoits lie nearest to the 
hub counts one point for each quoit, but each quoit entitled 
to count must be nearer the hub than any of the opponents' 
quoits. This continues until the score is complete. People 
usually play for eleven. This game can be played with flat 
stones instead of horseshoes and with any rules that you 
choose to make. 

Duck on a Rock 
Duck on a Kock is a variation of Quoits which is excel- 
lent fun. One of the players, chosen by counting out, puts a 
stone (called in this game the *'duck ") about as big as his fist, 
on the top of a smooth rock and stands near it. All the 
other players have similar " ducks " and try to dislodge the 
one on the rock by throwing their stones, or ducks at it. As 
soon as each has thrown his duck he tries to watch his chance 
to run up to it and carry it back before the player standing 
by the rock can touch him. When some one knocks off the 



OUTDOOR GAMES FOR BOYS 143 

duck from the rock the " it " (the player by the rock) must 
put it back before he can tag any of the players. This is 
therefore, of course, the great time for a rush of all the 
players to recover their ducks and get back to their own ter- 
ritory before the "it" can tag them. If any player is 
touched by the " it " while attempting to rescue his duck he 
must become " it " and put his duck on the rock. 

Bowling 
Bowling is the best of sports but this usually needs too 
much apparatus for the average boy to have. 'Nine pins, 
however, can be arranged in a rough sort of a way, by setting 
up sticks and bowling at them with round apples. Your own 
ingenuity will devise ways to use the materials you find 
about you. 

Hop-Scotch 

Hop-scotch is a great favorite which scarcely needs a de- 
scription, although there are various ways of marking the 
boards. The game is played by any number of persons, each 
of whom kicks a small stone from one part to another of the 
diagram by hopping about on one foot. The diagram is 
drawn on a smooth piece of ground with a pointed stick or on 
a pavement with a bit of chalk. The most usual figure is 
given here. 

To begin, a player puts a pebble or bit of wood into 
the place marked 1, and then, hopping into it with his right 
foot, he kicks the counter outside the diagram. Then hopping 
out himself, he kicks it (with the foot on which he is hopping) 
into the part marked 2. He hops through 1 to 2, kicks the 
counter out again, and follows it out. This continues until he 
has kicked the counter in and out of every space in the dia- 
gram, without stepping on a line, or so casting the counter 



144 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



that it rests on a line. If this occurs he is put back a space, 
and it is the turn of the next player. Each one plays until he 
has made a fault, and when it is his turn again, he takes up 
the game where he left off. The one who first gets through 
the required figures is the winner. 



6 


7 


8 


5 


2 


^ 


^3 



There is literally no end to the variations of this game, 
either in the diagram used or in the rules. Sometimes when 
people become very skilful they play it backward, and some- 
times at the end the player is required to place the pebble on 
his toe and kick it in the air, catching it in his hand. , 

1 

Strength Tests 
Yarious trials'of strength are good for boys out of doors, 
provided rules are fixed and adhered to. Cane-spreeing is good 
sport, but should only be tried by boys pretty well matched in „ 



OUTDOOR GAMES FOR BOYS 145 

size and strength. A cane (or broom-stick) about three feet 
long is held by two boys facing each other, each with a hand 
on each end of the cane, the respective right hands being out- 
side the lefts, that is, nearest to the end. Then one tries to get 
the cane away from the other. It sounds simple, but there are a 
great variety of strategic tricks to be learned by practice. No 
struggle should last more than two minutes by the watch, when 
the boys should stop and get breath. The feet are not used, 
but it is quite allowable to use your body, if you get down on 
the ground in a sort of wrestling. 

Hare and Hounds 
Hare and Hounds can be played either in the country or 
the city and is fine fun, although it should be begun with a 
short run. In the excitement of the chase boys are apt to for- 
get, and over- strain themselves., The " hares " are two players 
who have a bag of small paper pieces which they scatter after 
them from time to time as they run. They are given a 
start of five or ten minutes and then all the others, who 
are the " hounds," start after them, tracing their course by 
the bits of paper. In the city the hares take a piece of 

chalk and mark an arrow on the wall thus ~> showing in 

which direction they have gone. Good stout shoes should 
be worn to run in, or you will blister your feet. 

Dog-Stick 
A game for city payments or for smooth country roads 
has so many names that it is difficult to say which is its right 
one, but a common one is " dog-stick." It is played something 
like hockey, the aim being to get a ball or counter over your 
opponent's goal line. The ball in this case is not a ball but a 
piece of wood which you can make yourself, of an odd shape. 
It is like a flattened ball with a tail to it. With a club or stick 
you strike the tail so that the ball springs up in the air and 



146 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW'? 

then before it falls you strike it with your club toward your 
enemy's goal line. The players are divided into sides who 
try to defend their goal lines and to send back the ball to the 
other side. Make your own rules as experience teaches you is 
fair. 

Other Games 
The endless variations of leap-frog should not be forgot- 
ten in devising outdoor games: and tournaments of long or 
broad jumping and high jumping are good. Stilts and the 
games to be arranged with them are also another great re- 
source. And the seasons bring, as regularly as flowers and 
snow, the round of tops, and kites and marbles. Of these last 
a very summary account is given here as most boys and regions 
have their own rules. 

Marbles 
The first thing to learn in " Marbles " is the way that the 
marble should be held. Of course one can have very good 
games by bowling the marble, as if it were a ball, or holding 
it between the thumb-nail and the second joint of the first 
finger and shooting it with the thumb from there ; but these 
ways are wrong. The correct way is to hold it between the 
tip of the forefinger and the first joint of the thumb. Mar- 
bles are divided into "taws," or well-made strong marbles 
with which you shoot, and " clays," or the ordinary cheap \ 
colored marbles at which you aim and with which you pay 
your losses. 

Ring Taw 
Two or three boys with marbles could never have diffi- 
culty in hitting on a game to play with them, but the best reg- 
ular game for several players is " Eing Taw." A chalk ring 
is made on as level a piece of ground as there is, and each 



I 



OUTDOOR GAMES FOR BOYS 147 

player puts a clay on it at regular distances from each other. 
A line from w^hich to shoot during the first round is then 
drawn two yards or so from the ring, and the game begins by 
the player who has won the right of leading off (a real advan- 
tage) knuckling down on the line and shooting at one of the 
marbles in the ring. If a player knocks a marble out of the 
ring, that marble is his and he has the right to shoot again 
from the place where his taw comes to a stand ; but if in 
knocking a marble out of the ring his taw remains in it (or if 
his taw remains in it under any condition whatever), he has to 
put all the marbles he has won into the ring, in addition to one 
for a fine, and take up his taw and play no more till the next 
game. There is one exception to this rule: If only one 
marble is left in the ring, and if, in knocking it out, a player's 
taw remains in the ring, he does not suffer, because the game 
is then over. The other two rules are these : If a player suc- 
ceeds in hitting the taw of another the owner of that taw not 
only must leave the game but hand over any marbles he has 
won. (In no case are taws parted with.) Also, if it happens 
that only two players are left, and one of these has his taw hit, 
that ends the game, for the player who hit it not only has the 
marble of the taw's owner but all the marbles left in the 
ring too. 

*' Eing Taw " can be played by as few as two players ; but 
in this case they must each put several marbles in the ring. 

To decide which player is to begin, it is customary for them 
all to aim at the ring from the knuckling-down line, and 
whichever one places his taw nearest to the middle of the ring 
has the right to lead. 

Other Games 

Other garden games for boys will be found in the Picnic 
section. We might mention also " Steps " (p. 4), " Tug of 
War" (p. 38), and "Potato Kaces" (p. 40). 



PICNIC GAMES 



PICNIC GAMES 

A PICNIC may be either a complicated affair which has 
occupied you all the day before, or the most im- 
promptu expedition which you arrange on the spur of 
the minute ; and the last kind are often more fun. Any place 
out of doors will answer for a picnic, but if possible it should 
be near water. Anything will answer for a picnic lunch, but 
it is pleasant, if older people are with you, if you are al- 
lowed to have fires to do some outdoor cooking. This is al- 
ways easier than it sounds and adds infinitely to the fun of the 
lunch. Bacon is one of the easiest things to cook outdoors, all 
that is needed being a forked stick which you can cut for your- 
sel\res. The strip of bacon is impaled on the forks and toasted 
over the fire, each person cooking his own slice and eating it 
on bread. Or with two larger forked sticks a steak can be de- 
liciously broiled for the whole company, or chops can be 
cooked. It is the easiest and most delightful task to arrange 
a sort of cooking-hole of stones over which the coffee pot may 
be set and potatoes may be boiled over another similar hole. 
You will find that it is far better to have a number of very 
tiny little fires entirely separated from each other, than one big 
bonfire which is almost sure to grow unmanageable. It will be 
seen that it is far easier to take a big piece of bacon (to be 
sliced after reaching the picnic grounds) a loaf or two of bread 
and raw potatoes than to spend hours in making sandwiches 
and packing cake. Beside the things cooked out of doors al- 

151 



152 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

ways taste so much better. Great care should be taken to put 
out every spark of fire before going home, and to leave no 
scraps of paper, or egg-shells lying about. These should be 
burned or buried. 

It, Touch Last, or Tag 
For a short time " It " is a good warming game. It is the 
simplest of all games. The "It" runs after the others until 
he touches one. The one touched then becomes " It." 



Touchwood 
The name explains the game, which is played as " It " is 
played, except that you can be caught only when you are not 
touching wood. It is a good game where there are trees. It 
is, of course, not fair to carry a piece of wood. 

Cross Tag 

This is the ordinary '^ Tag," save that if, while the " It " 
is chasing one player, another runs across the trail between 
him and the pursued, the " It " has to abandon the player he 
was at first after and give chase to the one who has crossed. 

A good variety of tag is " French. Tag." The first one 
caught must join hands with the " It," the next one with him, 
etc., and so on in a long line all running together. Any one 
can catch an opponent, but the original " It " must touch 
him before he can take his place in the line. 

The Little Dog 

The players form a ring, leaving one outside, who passes 

round it singing, " I have a little dog and he won't bite you," 

and as he does so, touching each player in turn with a knotted 

pocket-handkerchief. " And he won't bite you," " And he 



PICNIC GAMES 153 

won't bite you," he calls to one after the other, and then sud- 
denly changes this to " But he will bite you.^'' The player 
touched when this is said has to run after the toucher with all 
his might. When caught they change places. 

Hunt the Squirrel 
All the players except one join a ring. This one, with a 
knotted handkerchief in his hand, walks round the outside of 
the ring for a while, and then, dropping the handkerchief be- 
hind one of the players, runs off crying — 

Hunt the squirrel through the wood. 

Now I 've lost him — now I 've found him ! 

Hunt the squirrel through the wood. 

The player behind whom the handkerchief was dropped must 
catch the squirrel before he can take up the empty place in 
the ring left by the pursuer. It is more fun if, in dropping 
the handkerchief, it can be done without the player discover- 
ing it for a little while. 

The way in which old-fashioned country children play 
this game (called usually " Drop the handkerchief "), is a little 
different. As the one with the handkerchief walks around 
and around the outside of the ring all join in singing, 

**Atisket! A tasket ! 

A green and yellow basket ! 
I sent a letter to my love 
And now I find I 've lost it. 
I 've lost it ! I 've lost it ! 
And where do you think I found it ? 
Up in the sky, ever so high 
With angels gathered 'round it." 

As the words " I've lost it ! " are repeated, the player out- 
side must drop the handkerchief, but no one must look behind 
him until the verse is ended. Then the one who finds the 



154 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

handkerchief behind him must try to catch the first one, who 
in turn tries to slip into the empty place. 

Gaps 
The players form a ring : all except one, who is " It." This 
one runs round the ring and touches one of the players in the 
circle. They both set off running immediately in opposite 
directions, the object of each being to get first to the gap 
made in the circle by the player who was touched. The one 
who gets to the gap first remains in the circle, while the other 
becomes " It." 

Twos and Threes, or Terza 
A very good picnic game. All the players except two 
form a large ring, standing in twos, one behind another. Of 
the two who are over, one is the pursuer and the other the 
pursued ; and the game is begun by the pursued taking up his 
position (if he can do so before the pursuer catches him) 
in front of one of the couples in the ring, thus making three. 
Directly he does this he is safe, and the last player in the little 
group at the back of him has to run. Whoever is caught be- 
comes the pursuer, while the one that caught him becomes 
the pursued until, by standing in front of one of the couples, 
he transfers that office to another. 

Hide and Seek 
" Hide and Seek," which is perhaps the best out-of-door 
game without implements, needs no explanation. It is usual 
to give the player who hides a start of as much time as it 
takes the others to count a hundred in. Some boys, instead of 
counting from one to a hundred, divide the sum into ten tens, 
which are counted thus : 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1 ; 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 
3, 1, 2, 3, 1 ; and so on. These can be rattled through so 



PICNIC GAMES 155 

quickly that your 100 is done and you have started out before, 
in the ordinary way, seventy w^ould have been reached. 

A customary arrangement to avoid taking the hiders too 
much by surprise is for the boy who stays at the base and 
counts a hundred to call out when he finishes 

"Bushel of wheat ! Bushel of rye ! 
All that are n't ready call out ' I ' ! " 

or simply 

"Oue! Two! Three ! 
Look out for me ! " 

I Spy 

" I Spy " combines " Hide and Seek " and " Tag." One 
player stays in the base, covers his eyes and counts a hundred, 
while the others run off and hide. On finishing the hundred 
the player shouts " Coming ! " and runs out to look for the 
others. Directly he catches sight of one of them (and they 
are not hidden so carefully as in "Hide and Seek "), he calls 
out his name and the place where he has seen him ; as, for in- 
stance, " Harry ! behind the summer-house ! " If there is no 
mistake and the name is right (it is very often wrong, in which 
case the player does not move), Harry has to run out and try 
and catch the other before he reaches the base. 

Another way is for as many players to seek as to hide. 
In this case it is agreed beforehand as to how many of the 
seekers must be caught by the hiders for the game to be won. 
If the number is given at four and four are caught, the same 
side have the privilege of hiding again ; but if only three or 
a smaller number, then the seekers have won and it is they 
who hide next time. 



156 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



Chevy, or Prisoner's Base 
There is no better running game than this. You first 
pick sides and then mark off the two camps and take up jour 
station there. The field is arranged thus : — 



Place for 

A's 
prisoners. 



Place for 

B's 
prisoners. 



A's Camp. 



B's Camp. 



• ! 



PICNIC GAMES 157 

The game is opened by several of the A side running out 
to some point immediately in front of the two camps. When 
ready they call " Chevy." As many of the B side then start 
out to pursue them, each calling his particular quarry by name. 
The object of each A man is either to get back before the B 
man who is after him can catch him, or to tempt the B man 
into ground so near the A camp that he may be caught. In 
this aim he is helped by the fact that directly his B pursuer 
called his name and started out another A man probably called 
out the name of the B man and started to cut him off. No one 
is allowed to be pursued by two players at once. 

If caught, the A man has to go to the place reserved for 
B's prisoners. Directly he gets there he calls '' Kescue " ; an A 
man will then call " Prisoner," and rush out to relieve him ; 
vi^hile a B runner is all ready to intercept this A rescuer if he can. 

The game is good both for runners who can keep it up a 
long time and for those who can make short, sharp dashes. 
The first named decoy the enemy out in pursuit, and the 
others hold themselves ready to dash across in front of the 
enemy-s camp and cut off any one who is across the line. The 
rule as to shouting the name of the man you have marked 
down should be kept. 

If there is more than one prisoner they stand just touch- 
ing hands, in a line which reaches as far as possible toward 
their own camp, so that the distance between the first prisoner 
and the rescuer may be shortened. Each new prisoner takes 
up his place at the back of this line, farthest from the camp. 
A prisoner is rescued by being touched. 

If one side is much weaker than the other a time comes 
when it is nearly all taken prisoner, with none to rescue ex- 
cept by leaving the camp undefended. Directly a camp is left 
undefended one of the enemy steps in and " crowns " it and 
claims the game. More often than not, however, a game of 



158 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

" Chevy" is left undecided. It does not matter in the least, 
for in this game the fun is more in playing than in winning. 

French and English 
For this game the ground must be divided hy a path or 
line into two territories — French and English. At the further 
side of each territory a number of flags — handkerchiefs will 
do — must be placed at intervals. The players are then divided 
into the two nations, and the game consists in each side trying 
to get the flags from the other side, to guard its own, and to 
catch the enemy when he is off his own ground. Once a player 
sets foot upon the enemy's territory he must go on, but he can- 
not be caught if he has a flag in his hands. If he is caught he 
becomes a prisoner (as in Chevy), and is only released by being 
touched by one of his own party. A player cannot redeem a 
prisoner and take a flag at the same time. The game ends 
when all the flags of one side have been taken. 

Black Man 

This is rather rough. A line is drawn at each end of the 
playing place and one player is told off to stand between these 
lines. The object of the others is to run across, from base to 
base, without being caught by him : being caught meaning not 
merely being touched, as in ^' It," but being really held and 
stopped. Each one that is caught has to stay in the middle 
to help catch the others, until no one is left to run across at all. 

The player in the middle calls out to the crowd of players, 
" What'll you do when the black man comes ? " and they 
answer, 

" Eun right through 
And never mind you." 

This is the signal to begin each rush across from one line 
to the other. 



PICNIC GAMES 159 

Stagarino 
" Stagarino " is similar to " Black Man," except that all 
the players who are caught, and whose business it is to catch 
the others, join hands. Those that run across have therefore 
to avoid them or to try and break through the wall of arms. 

Red Rover 

"Eed Eover " is also similar to " Black Man," except that 
instead of all running at the same time, the " Eover " calls 
out : — 

" Eed Rover ! Red Rover ! 
Let (mentioning name) come over ! " 

at which the one named has to run from one base to the other. 
If he is caught, he must assist the " Eover " in catching the 
others. 

Hop, Step, and Jump 
This is a change from ordinary racing. The competitors, 
instead of running against each other, see which can cover the 
most distance in a hop, a step, and a jump, or, say, three hops, 
three steps, and three jumps. It needs an umpire to watch 
very carefully that the step begins exactly where the hop left 
off and the jump where the step finished. 

Follow-My-Leader 
This needs no explaining. It is nearly always good fun 
for a while, and particularly so if the leader has original ideas. 



OUT FOR A WALK 



OUT FOR A WALK 



ON countrj^ walks, where there is much to see, one 
should not be in need of ways to make the time seem 
shorter. And new walks in the town, or walks 
where there are interesting shop-windows, are not dull. But 
the same walks again and again can be very tiring ; and it is 
to help these that the methods which follow have been 
collected. 

A good walking pastime for two is for one to drive the 
other. Hoops are a great help (see p. 169) and so are dolls' 
perambulators. But on many walks nothing of this kind is 
allowed, and one has to fall back on conversation. Telling 
stories in turns, or making up stories about passers-by, is use- 
ful, but it is not every one that is able to do this. 

Roadside Whist 
In the Channel Islands visitors riding about in large 
wagonettes pass the time by playing a game called " Koadside 
Whist." The people on the left seat of the carriage take the 
right side of the road, and those on the right seat take the left. 
The conductor teaches them the rules at the beginning of the 
drive. In our case it is better perhaps to make them for our- 
selves, to suit our own particular country. Let us suppose 
that — 



If you see 




A baby in arms you score 


1 


A baby in a perambulator " 


3 


A white horse " 


5 


A ladder against a house '* 


2 


A woman in a white apron " 


1 


A butcher's cart *' 


1 


A street gate " 


2 


A postman " . 


5 


163 





i64 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

Then there should be a few things for which marks have 
to be taken off. Let us suppose that — 

If you see 

A pug dog you lose . . 2 

A piebald horse " . . 4 

An open gate '' . . 2 

A flock of sheep " . . 3 

A soldier " . . 10 

!N'o matter what the score is, whichever side sees a cat on 
a window-ledge wins the game. 

Counting Dogs 
In a town there are other varieties of roadside whist for 
two players or sides. Counting dogs is one. In this game 
one takes all the streets leading from the left, the other all 
from the right. 

Guessing Horses' Tails 
A good game (writes E. K.) while out for a walk is " when 
you see a horse coming, guess what color his tail is before he 
can reach you, and then, whoever guesses right, the horse be- 
longs to him." 

Shop-Windows 
Except in very dull streets shop-windows can be always 
entertaining. It is interesting to suppose you have so much 
money — say five dollars — to spend, or, if you like, an un- 
limited sum, and choose what you would buy as you pass each 
shop. E. H. writes: — "One little girl used to suppose that 
she was the eldest of a large family whom she had to provide 
for, and was always on the lookout for things in the shops 
that would do for her younger brothers and sisters. For in- 
stance, if she decided that the family must have new winter 
clothes, she would first make up her mind how much she could 
afford and then price the things in the shop- windows. Some- 



OUT FOR A WALK 165 

times she would set her heart on a particular cloak for the 
baby, but could not pretend to buy it till she had seen whether 
it would leave her enough money for the other children. If 
she could get all the children dressed fairly nicely for the sum 
at her disposal she had all the satisfaction of a successful day's 
shopping. Sometimes the clothes she wanted were too dear, 
and then she had to decide what was most necessary, what 
she could make at home, and so on." 

Making Sentences 
It is rather exciting for each player to take a side of the 
road where there are shops and see which can first complete a 
given sentence or word from the initial letters of the shop- 
keepers' names, Christian or surname. In fixing upon a sen- 
tence it is well to be careful not to have unusual letters, such 
as Q, or U, or J in it. If this is too difficult all the letters in 
the shopkeepers' names may be taken, or those in every other 
name. 

Collecting Jones's 
In Mrs. Meynell's book, The Children^ one little girl on 
her walks collected Jones's — that is, shops with the name of 
Jones over them. If any one else cared for this amusement 
there would be no need to stick to Jones. 

The Love Alphabet 
In this game you go through the alphabet, applying ad- 
jectives to your love. " I love my love with an A because he 
[or she] is so admirable " ; " I love my love with a E because 
she is so beautiful," and so on, keeping to each letter as long 
as possible. On pages 88 and 89 will be found more difficult 
varieties, less suitable, perhaps, to be played when walking. 



i66 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

The Cat Alphabet 
Another alphabet game requires adjectives to be put be- 
fore the word cat. You begin with A. " An artful cat," one 
player may say ; and the next, " An avaricious cat." Perhaps 
" An awful cat," '' An adhesive cat," " An arrogant cat," and 
" An attractive cat," will follow. A is kept up until no one 
can think of any more ; or — if you play in that way — until 
no one can think of any more while ten is being counted. 
Then B : " A bushy cat," " A bruised cat," " A bellicose cat," 
" A bumptious cat," and so on. 

Spelling 
In this game the players each contribute a letter toward 
the spelling of a word, their object being never to be the one 
to complete it, but to force the next player to do so. Thus 
(with four players) the first player may say " p," and the next, 
thinking of " prim," may say " r," and the next, also thinking 
of "prim," may say "i." But the fourth player, running his 
thoughts quickly over possible words beginning with " pri," 
may light upon " prism " and say " s." This saves her, but 
puts the first player in danger, which is only averted by her 
thinking of "prison" and saying "o," in which case the next 
one is bound to be the loser. 

The Grand Mogul 
A favorite old game which can be played as well on a 
walk as indoors is " The Grand Mogul." " The Grand Mogul 
does not like E's," says one player ; " what will you give him 
for dinner ? " Each player answers in turn, but none of the 
dishes named must contain the letter E, or the player either 
stands out, or (indoors) pays a forfeit. Thus, the answers to 
the question may be " apricots," " mutton," or " soup," but 
not "apples," "beef," or "porridge." On a walk the letter 



OUT FOR A WALK 167 

E might be persevered with until every one failed, and then 
the other vowels might be tried. 

Buz 

This is a counting game in which, whenever the number 
7 comes, or a multiple of 7, such as 14, 21, 28, 35, or a number 
with 7 in it, such as 17, 27, 37, the player whose turn it is 
must say " Buz." Otherwise, out-of-doors, he loses a round or 
two, or, indoors, he must pay a forfeit. When 70 comes you 
say " Buz " in the ordinary way, but for 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76^ 
78, and 79 you say " Buz 1," " Buz 2," and so on. For 77 you 
say " Buz Buz." 

Rhyming Lights 
In this game one player thinks of a word and gives the 
others a rhyme to it. Thus, she may think of " coal," and she 
would then say, " I 've thought of a word that rhymes to pole." 
The others have to guess what the word is, yet not bluntly, 
as, " Is it mole ? " but like this : " Is it a little animal that bur- 
rows?" "No," says the first player (who thus has a little 
guessing to do herself), " ]^o, it is not mole." " Is it a small 
loaf of bread ? " " No, it is not roll." " Is it something you 
eat bread and milk from?" "No, it is not bowl." "Is it 
something you burn ? " " Yes, it is coal." The player who 
thought of " coal " then finds a word for the others to guess. 

The Apprentice 
The "Apprentice" is an old game for two or any num- 
ber. One says, " I apprenticed my son to a [mentioning a 
tradesman or craftsman], and the first thing he sold [or made] 
was a [mentioning, by its initial only, something peculiar to 
the trade or craft]. The player who first guesses what the 
initial stands for then makes a similar remark. Thus, one 
player may say^ " I apprenticed my son to ^ blagksmitbj and 



i68 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

the first thing he made was a D. K." (Door Knocker)^ 
Another, " I apprenticed mj son to a grocer, and the first 
thing he sold was S. S." (Soft Soap). Another, "' I appren- 
ticed my son to a gardener, and the first thing he grew was a 
C. B." (Canterbury Bell). Another, " I apprenticed my son 
to a firework manufacturer, and the first thing he made was a 
G. E." (Golden Eain). 

Towns and Products 
This is a somewhat similar game bearing on geography. 
Suppose there are three players. One chooses a well-known 
place, say Boston, and begins, "I know a place where they 
sell boots," or whatever it may be beginning with B. The 
next player then knows what letter the place begins with and 
at once starts thinking of what place it is likely to be. Per- 
haps she settles on Birmingham, in which case she would say, 
to indicate that the second letter of the word was " I," " I 
know a place where they sell isinglass " (or icicles, or ingle- 
nooks). " ]^o," says the first player, and the third therefore 
has to try. Perhaps she decides that the place is Brighton, in 
which case she will say, " I know a place where they sell rock- 
ets " (or rurap-steak or raisins). ^' No," says the first player 
again, and then it being her turn she gives them another light 
on the right word by saying, " I know a place where they sell 
oranges " (or oil, or ocarinas), and so on, until the place is 
spelled through. 

Other Games 
Other games suitable to be played when walking are " P's 
and Q's " (p. 89), " Suggestions " (p. 91), " Clumps " (p. 93), 
"How, When, and Where" (p. 95), "Coffee-Pot" (p. 95), 
" Throwing Light" (p. 96), and " Animal, Vegetable, and Min- 
eral " (p. 96). 



OUT FOR A WALK 169 

Hoops 

Iron hoops are the best, but it is a matter of taste whether 
a stick or a hook is used for them. If the stick is a stout one 
you get rid of the skidding noise made by the hook, and 
there is more satisfaction in beating a thing along than in, 
as it were, pushing it. It should be every one's aim to make 
the hoop do as much as possible with as little treatment as 
possible. After a very fast run it is equally interesting to see 
how slowly a hoop can be made to travel. To make it keep 
as straight a course as may be is very absorbing. Bought 
hoops can be strong, but to get exactly what one wants it is 
necessary to go to a blacksmith. A hoop standing as high as 
its owner, through which he can run to and fro as it rolls, is a 
possession which only a blacksmith or working-ironmonger 
can supply. 

Two in Hoop Games 

Hoop games are few in number, and, with the exception 
of " Posting," not very exciting. With a large hoop and a 
small hoop two players can learn to time the pace of a hoop 
very exactly and then bowl the little one through the big one 
as it rolls. 

There is also a game called " Turnpikes," in which several 
players and one hoop take part. The turnpikes, of which 
there are as many as the players, less the one who begins with 
the hoop, are two stones an inch or so apart, through which 
the hoop has to be bowled without touching, the faster the 
better. If it touches, or misses, the player who has been 
bowling it gives the hoop to the turnpike holder, who then 
tries his fortune with it, keeping it until he fails at any of 
the stones. 

Hoop Posting 

A very good hoop game for several players is " Posting." 
The idea is that a distance is to be covered (as in the old post- 



lyo WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

ing days) as quickly as possible by relays of riders, and the 
first thing to do is to station four posts at various points along 
the route. Then, when they are ready, each with hoop-stick 
or hook, the player with the hoop starts and bowls it as fast 
as he can to the first post. Immediately it reaches him that 
post takes it on, without stopping the hoop for an instant, to 
the next, while the first one takes the place left by him ; and 
so on, as often round the ring as you like. When there is a 
time-keeper and you post against time it is even better fun. 
The advantage of standing in a large circle is that the hoop 
need never be checked ; but if the circle is impossible, you can 
go up and down a long line, with checks only at each end. 



IN THE TRAIN 

Or 

DURING A WAIT AT A RAILWAY STATION 



IN THE TRAIN 

Or 

DURING A WAIT AT A RAILWAY STATION 

ALOK"G journey in a train — say from New York to 
Chicago — can, even if you have a window seat, be 
very tiring ; but without a window it is sometimes 
almost unendurable. The hints which follow are mostly 
adapted for two players, but one or two will be found useful 
if you are alone with no one to play with. 

The Value of a Map 
A map of the country which the train passes through is 
an interesting thing to have on a long journey. It tells you 
the names of the hills and villages you see from the windows 
and you can very likely fix the exact moment that you cross 
from one county or state into another. 

Railway Competitions 
Two persons can have good competitions. They can 
agree beforehand that the game is to go to whichever of them 
sees the more horses, or cows, or sheep, or men driving, or 
bicyclists, or rabbits, between two given points, say one station 
and the next. It is not necessary to be at different windows ; 
in fact a new kind of excitement comes in if both are at the 
same window or at windows on the same side, because then in 
addition to seeing the things there is the fun of not letting 
the other think you have seen them. 

173 



174 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 



Railway Whist 
This is a kind of " Koadside Whist," the rules for which 
will be found on page 163. As has been said there, most 
players will prefer to draw up their own scoring table ; but 
the following things and figures may be found useful as a 
foundation : — 



If you see — 






A church 


it counts 


3 


A field with sheep 


(< 


3 


A field with cows 


(( 


2 


A field with horses 


11 


4 


A field with rabbits 


11 


3 


A man 


u 


1 


A woman 


u 


2 


A stile 


'« 


4 


An open gate 


tt 


5 


A shut gate 


It 


2 


An ordinary dog 


ti 


2 


A sheep dog 


<l 


6 


A horse and cart 


a 


5 


A hay-wagon 


'' 


2 


A pond 


(i 


4 


If you see — 






A waving hankerchief 


you lose 


6 


A hay-stack 


(( 


1 


A red barn 


11 


5 


A grocer's wagon 


" 


1 


Children on a gate 


" 


10 



Whichever side first sees a black sheep wins, no matter 
what the score is. Otherwise the scorer of the greatest num- 
ber of marks is the winner. In " Railway Whist " it is neces- 
sary for the players to be on different sides of the train. 

Station Observation 
A variety of " Observation " (see page 104) can be played 
on journe3^s. While the train is stopping at a station every 



IN THE TRAIN 175 

one looks out of the window and notices as many things as 
possible. When the train starts again each writes as many of 
these things as he can remember, and the one with the best 
list wins. 

Games With a Watch 
If you have a watch it is rather interesting to guess the 
exact time at which the train will reach the next station. 
The one who guesses nearest becomes the holder of the watch 
until the next guess is decided. Other things can be done 
with a watch, particularly if it has a second hand. Guessing 
the length of a minute is rather interesting, or timing the 
speed of the train by noting how long it takes to go between 
the telegraph-poles at the side of the line. 



Hot-Hand 

This is a primitive game, capital for cold weather, for it is 
well named. It is played by two people, one of whom spreads 
out his hands flat, palms up. The other puts his, palms down, 
within about three inches of the other's, and tries to strike 
them a smart blow. If the first player can withdraw his 
hands quickly enough so that they are not touched it is his 
turn to try and strike. As long as the player whose hands 
are palms down can strike the other's hands he can go on. 
This is an excellent game for cultivating quickness. The 
player whose hands are to be struck will find that he can suc- 
ceed better in escaping the other's blows, if he watches his eyes 
rather than his hands. 

This can be arranged among many, players as a sort of 
tournament, trying out the players by couples until finally the 
two best contestants are left to struggle for the championship. 
This is a good game to play while getting your breath after 



176 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 



skating — or at any time out of doors when you are obliged to 
be quiet, and there is danger of getting chilled. 

Pencils and Paper » 

It is well to take a pencil and paper when you go on a 
long journey. If the train rocks a good deal it is interesting 
to see which can write a sentence most clearly. There is a 
way of balancing oneself on the edge of the seat and holding 
the paper on one's knees which makes for steadiness. It is 
never too shaky for " Noughts and Crosses." 

Noughts and Crosses or Tit-tat-toe 
" Il^oughts and Crosses " is playable anywhere ; all that is 
needed is a piece of paper — a newspaper will do — and a pen- 
cil. The framework is first made. Thus : — 



One player chooses crosses and the other noughts, and the one 
who is to begin puts his mark — say, a cross — in one of the 
nine squares. The other puts a nought in another of the 
squares, and so it goes on until either three noughts or three 
crosses are in a straight line in any direction. Thus, this is 
the end of a game in which noughts played first and crosses 
won: 



IN THE TRAIN 



177 



X 






X 








X 








Eut it often happens that the game is drawn, as in this 
example, in which noughts played first : — 



X 













X 


X 


X 






A blank book for " l^oughts and Crosses," with the frame- 
work all ready, can now be obtained. It has places for the 
names of the players, and the date. 

Paper French and English 
" French and English," another game for two, belongs to 
the family of " I^oughts and Crosses," and can be played any- 
where and on any scrap of paper. You first decide which 
will be English and which French. Each player then takes 
one-half of the paper and covers it with, say, sixty dots. It 
does not matter how many, but there must be the same numr 



178 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

ber on each side. Then in a corner each draws a cannon, or 
draws something that can be called a cannon for the purposes 
of the game. You then decide how many turns you will have. 
The game is played by placing the pencil on the cannon, shut- 
ting your eyes, and dashing the pencil across your enemy's 
side of the paper, straight or crooked, in any direction you 
like. Then you open your eyes, count how many dots the 
pencil line has passed through, and score them down. The 
player who, at the end of the number of turns settled upon, 
has gone through the greatest number of dots is the winner. 

" Letters " and Words 

A box of letters is an unfailing help to pass the time. A 
word will sometimes keep a player puzzling for hours, which 
is, of course, too long. " Pomegranate," " Orchestra," and 
" Scythe " are good examples of difficult words. 

You can also take words and sentences seen on the 
journey, such as " Wait till the train stops," and " Pears' 
Soap," and see how many words they will make. A more 
difficult task is to make anagrams of advertisements. " Lip- 
ton's Teas," for instance, makes " Taste on, lips." 

" Letters " With a Pencil 
The word-making game has been adapted into a writing 
competition. Each of the company is handed a card which 
has been prepared for the purpose beforehand by having names 
of a dozen animals, or towns, or flowers, or birds, or whatever 
it may be, written on it in what might be called twisted spell- 
ing. For instance, " butterfly " might be spelled thus, " trelby- 
fut," and "Manchester" thus, " Tramschene." A certain 
amount of time is given, and the winner is the player who has 
found out most words therein. 

A yersion of this game k to ^gt out all the letters of the 



IN THE TRAIN 



179 



word except the first and the last. You would put 

" Elephant " on the paper thus, E t, and tell your 

companion it was the name of an animal. Or you might 

write " Peppermint " thus, P t, and tell him it was 

the name of a sweet. 

Hanging 
This is a more diiScult game, very suitable for a tiring 
journey. The two players sit side by side, and one of them 
dots out on a piece of paper the words of a proverb or well- 
known line of poetry. Thus, " I met a little cottage girl " 
would be set down in this way : — 



Underneath this lino a small gallows is erected. Thus : 



The game is for the other player to discover the line. In 
order to do this he is permitted to ask his opponent for letters. 
Perhaps he will begin by asking, " May I have an * a,' " be- 
cause there are few sentences that do not contain an " a." 
His opponent will then put the first " a " in. Thus : — 



Then perhaps another " a " will be asked for, and the line will 
come out thus : — 



i8o 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



Then perhaps an " e " : 



So far all has gone favorably with the guesser, and the 
gallows is still untouched. But perhaps he will now venture to 
ask for a consonant (which is much more risky than a vowel), 
and will say, " May I have an ' s ' ? " As there is no " s " in 
the line the reply will be against it, and the opponent will at 
once append to the rope of the gallows a small head. 
Thus : — 



This means that the guesser has lost one out of a possible six 
points, the others being his body, his two arms and two legs. 
For each letter he asks for in vain he loses one of these, and 
when all have gone he has lost the game too. Sometimes, 
however, the quotation can be detected very quickly. 

Other Games 

Many games usually kept for the house can be played in 

the train. " Old Maid " (see p. 79) is a good train game ; so is 

" Buz " (see p. 167). A " Fox and Geese " board, or a draught- \ 

board, will help to pass the time. I 

Food ] 

Food is a great help toward shortening a long journey. A j 
little picnic every hour, if it is permitted, is something not too 



IN THE TRAIN 181 

distant to look forward to, and it may take up ten minutes 
each time. A larger meal all at once may, of course, be more 
convenient but, if not, the hourly picnic is worth trying. 

Chinese Gambling 
This is the simplest game possible but will while away 
endless hours. It is played with nothing but your hands, 
which are made to assume three positions : one with clenched 
fist ; one spread out flat ; and one with first and second finger 
spread apart like the blades of scissors. The first is called 
" the stone," the second " the paper " and the third " the 




Chinese Gambling 
scissors." Very rapidly both players strike their right hand 
(clenched) into the left palm three times, and then both at the 
same instant bring up the right hand in one of the three posi- 
tions. The winner is determined by this formula ; " Scissors 
cut paper. Stone breaks scissors. Paper wraps stone." 
That is if you have made your hand " the stone " and your 
companion "the paper," he wins. But if you had chosen 
"the scissors " you would have won. The winner must call 
out the formula that fits the case, " Scissors cut paper " for 
instance, and count is kept of the number of losses and gains. 
The one who comes out ahead after a half -hour's contest is the 
winner of that bout. 



PLAYING ALONE, AND GAMES 
IN BED 




Playikg i^LONE {Facing 2)0 f/e 184) 



PLAYING ALONE, AND GAMES IN BED 

Bricks 

AMONG the best toys with which to play alone are 
bricks, soldiers, balls, battledore and shuttlecock, 
and dolls. No one needs any hints as how to play 
with them ; but it might be remarked that ordinary bought 
bricks being rarely what they should be, it is better, if possi- 
ble, to get a carpenter to make some of a more useful size, 
say four inches long, one and a half inches wide, and an inch 
thick. "With a hundred of these you can do almost anything 
in the way of building, and if made of tough wood they ought 
to last forever. 



Soldiers 
A good game of soldiers is to see how many shots are re- 
quired from a cannon to kill the whole regiment. The cannon 
can either be a spring cannon or a pop-gun, or a pea-shooter. 
Just at first it is almost impossible not to clear off two or three 
men with each shot, but later it becomes more difficult and 
exciting. 

Ninepins 
"With a box of ninepins very much the same game can be 
played. In wet weather, in the hall, a box of large ninepins 
is invaluable. 

185 



i86 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW *? 



Spanish Cup and Ball 
A good quiet game to play alone is " Spanish Cup and 
Ball." A long stick has fastened to it a loop of wire standing 




Spanish Cup 



out at right angles, thus. To this is attached by a long string 
a worsted, or a very light rubber ball. The game is to see 
how many times you can throw the ball up to the ceiling and 
catch it in the loop of wire as it falls. 



PLAYING ALONE, AND GAMES IN BED 187 

Balancing 

All kinds of balancing games are excellent when you are 
alone and tired of toys. There is no way to acquire profi- 
ciency in these but by practice, but practice is fascinating work. 
Try balancing at first a long pole (an old broom-stick handle 
will do) on the palm of your hand, then on your finger, then 
on your chin and forehead. The longer the pole, the easier 
to balance it. Eemember one golden rule. Keep your eyes 
on the top of the pole. 

Then try balancing a whole broom, or a chair. The 
practice of balancing is excellent for training yourself in 
quickness of eye and muscle. 

Of course bricks and soldiers and ninepins, as well as 
balls (see p. 139), are more interesting when more than one 
person plays ; but one can pass the time very well with 
them. 

Brace's Heart 
Where toys become tedious, games have to be made up ; 
and in making up games no outside help is needed. At the 
same time, some games which E. H. describes may perhaps sup- 
ply a hint or two. " One little girl,'' she writes, " used to find 
endless joy in pretending to be Douglas bearing the heart of 
Bruce to the Holy Land. A long stick in the right hand 
represented his spear; a stone in the left hand was the casket 
containing Bruce's heart. If the grown-ups stopped to talk 
with some one they met, or if there was any other excuse for 
running on ahead, the little girl would rush forward waving her 
stick and encouraging her men (represented by a big dog), 
and, after hurling her stone as far forward as possible, and 
exclaiming, * Lead on, brave heart,' she would cast her spear 
in the same direction in a last effort against the Moors, and 
then pretend to fall dead to the ground." This little girl had 
found the story of Bruce in Tales of a Grandfather^ by Sir 



i88 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW^ 

Walter Scott. Almost every book will yield people and 
events to play at. 

The Hotel Camps 
Another little girl whom E. H. knew " once spent a short 
time in a hotel, and while there divided the other people into 
camps according to the floor on which they had rooms. The 
designs in the windows on the various floors represented the 
badges or heraldic signs of each camp. For instance, one 
window (they were of colored glass) had a border with eagles, 
another had gryphons, another lions, and so on. If she met 
some one of another floor coming in or going out of the hotel, 
it represented the meeting of two rival bands. If she 
actually found herself in the elevator with them, it was a 
dangerous encounter, in which, if they got out first, she had 
driven them off the field, but if she got out first it was she 
who was in retreat. If two people of different floors were 
seen talking together, a truce had been declared, and so 
on." 

Block City 
The little book called A ChiWs Garden of Verses, by 
R. L. Stevenson, has several poems which describe how a 
lonely little boy used to play. Thus (in " Block City ") : — 

Let the sofa be mountains, the carpet a sea, 

There I '11 establish a city for me, 

A kirk and a mill, and a palace beside. 

And a harbor as well where my vessels may ride. 

Story-Books 
And (in "The Land of Story-Books ") : — 

Now, with my little gun, I crawl 
All in the dark along the wall, 
And follow round the forest track 
Away behind the sofa back. 



PLAYING ALONE, AND GAMES IN BED 189 

There, in the night, where none can spy, 
All in my hunter's camp I lie, 
And play at books that I have read 
Till it is time to go to bed. 

The Bed Boat 
That is ordinary play. There is also a poem describing 
play in bed : — 

My bed is like a little boat ; 

Nurse helps me in when I embark ; 
She girds me in my sailor's coat 

And starts me in the dark. 

Thinking Games for Bed 
When more than one sleep in the same room, the time 
before sleep can be very interesting. Many games which have 
already been described are suitable for bed, such as " Telling 
Stories" (p. 99), "I Love my Love'' (p. 88), "Spelling" 
(p. 166), "The Grand Mogul" (p. 166), "Rhyming Lights" 
(p. 167), "The Apprentice" (p. 167), "Towns and Products" 
(p. 168), "Suggestions" (p. 91), and "Clumps," adapted 
(p. 93). 

Games by Rote 
On this subject B. R. L. writes : — " We made a list, which 
was stuck on the wall with a different game for each night. 
One was * I Love my Love with an A ' (see p. 88), which we 
steadily made up all through the alphabet. Another was 
' Initials,' in which you take turns in saying the initials of 
people you know, while the other guesses the names. Another 
was * Twenty Questions,' in which one thinks of something 
that has to be guessed as quickly as possible, only *yes' and 
' no ' being given as answers. One very girlish game was like 
this : suppose you had a little girl with golden hair and blue 
eyes, and she was going on a visit to London, what sort of 
frocks would you buy her ? " 



190 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

The Imaginary Family 
E. H. recommends for girls the " Imaginary Family " 
game. This is her description of it : — " First you have to set- 
tle the names, ages, and characters of your family, and then 
you can carry on their adventures every night. One little girl 
who was devoted to books of travel, and who loved to pore 
over maps and charts, used to travel with her family every 
night in whatever country she happened to be interested in at 
the time. Thus she and a favorite son, Pharaoh, traveled for 
a long time in California, crossing every mountain-range by 
the proper passes, exploring every valley, tracing each river 
to its source, and so on. In the same way she traveled with 
her family in Central and South America, the Malay Penin- 
sula, and the South Sea Islands. Another little girl who was 
very fond of adventure stories carried her family through all 
sorts of perils by land and sea. At one time they were ship- 
wrecked and lived like the Swiss Family Robinson. At 
another time they were exploring Central Africa, and traveled 
about with three years' supplies in a gigantic caravan with 
fifty elephants. Yet another little girl had for her family any 
characters out of books that particularly fascinated her. Thus, 
when she was reading The Heroes^ her family was reduced to 
one daughter, Medea, a rather terrible daughter, who needed 
a great deal of propitiating, and for whose sake all other chil- 
dren had to be given up. Later on, when the same child was 
reading Tales of a Grandfather^ her family consisted of three 
sons, Wallace, Bruce, and Douglas. (It is rather a good thing, 
by the way, to have a very heroic family, especially if you are 
at all inclined to be afraid in the dark, as they help to keep 
one's courage up.) Two little girls, who lived in a clergy- 
man's household, had an imaginary poor family they were in- 
terested in, and they planned about them every night, — how 
much the father earned, what their rent was, whether the 



PLAYING ALONE, AND GAMES IN BED 191 

mother ought n't to take in washing, whether the eldest girl 
could be spared to go into service, and so on. When they 
were n't allowed to talk at night they carried the family his- 
tory on independently and compared notes in the morning.'* 

Making Plans 
Making plans is always interesting, but particularly so 
just before Christmas, when presents have to be arranged for. 

For Getting to Sleep 
The favorite way is to imagine that you see a flock of 
sheep scrambling through a gap in the hedge, and to count 
them. A variety of this is a desert with a long train of cam- 
els very far oif, coming slowly near, and then passing and 
gradually disappearing in the far distance. Counting a million 
is also a good way. 

Games for Convalescents 
A good thing to do in bed when getting better from an 
illness is to cut out pictures for scrapbooks. Any kind of cut- 
ting out can be done, as the scissors and paper are very light 
and do not, therefore, tire the arms. " Patience " (see page 76) 
is also a good bed game, because it needs very little thought. 

Bed Soldiers 
In A Child'' s Garden of Verses there is a poem called 
" The Land of Counterpane," which tells what a little boy did 
when he was ill, lying among the pillows with his toys : 

And sometimes for an hour or so 
I watched my leaden soldiers go, 
With different uniforms and drills, 
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills ; 

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets 
All up and down among the sheets. 
Or brought my trees and houses out 
And planted cities all about. 



192 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

China Animals 
Dolls are, of course, perfectly at home in bed when you 
are ill, but there is even more interest in a menagerie. On 
this subject it would be difficult to do better than quote from 
a letter from E. M. E., who has 590 china animals, mostly in 
families and all named. She began this magnificent collection 
with a family of monkeys. 

The mother was called Sally, her eldest son Muugo, the next Pin-ceri, 
another, eating a nut, Jock, and the youngest, a sweet little girl monkey, Ness. 
I was soon given a family of three foxes, Keynard, Brushtail, and Whitepad, and 
from that time to the present my collection has been growing. I soon had 
enough to fill a shelf in a cabinet, and I turned my doU's-house into a boarding- 
school for the little animals with a big pig as headmaster. But when my collec- 
tion rose to 400 animals, I had too many children to be all boarders at the 
school, so some had to be day-scholars, and the headmaster was changed to a 
green frog who swam beautifully, and who was assisted by two swans, a duck, a 
fish, two crocodiles, and a seal, who all swam. Another frog taught the chil- 
dren swimming by tying a piece of string round their bodies, and dangling them 
in the water from the edge of a basin. 

The animals' abode was now changed, and they were put into a large cab- 
inet containing six small shelves and one big one. 

I called the big shelf a town, and the rest villages. The town was called 
Weybridge : the village where the birds lived, Airsbury ; and that where the 
dogs were, Canistown. The rest had various other names. At this time an im- 
portant addition was made to the collection, for a big lion was given me, which 
I immediately created king ; then came a queen and four princesses, and shortly 
after a crown prince, another prince, and three more little princesses. 

The royal family was allowed a village all to itself, which was called 
Kingston, and was given five servants, two nurses, a footman, a housemaid, and 
a cook. 

As I had now two families of several of the kinds of animals, I determined 
that they should be married, so, nominating Sally's husband rector, I had sev- 
eral weddings. I built a church with some bricks I had, and formed a proces- 
sion up the aisle, to the Wedding March, played on an American organ. 

First came the bride and bridegroom, then the best man and the brides- 
maids, and last the children of the animals who were to be married, two and 
two. When the ceremony was over, I marched them all back to their places on 
the shelf. 

I now made eight laws, and copied them out in an exercise-book, together 



PLAYING ALONE, AND GAMES IN BED 193 

with the names of all the animals, the number of men, women, boys, and girls, 
and the number of married and single families. 

I had had several little separate china animals given me, belonging to none 
of my families, so I made a law that if any family of their kind came to the col- 
lection they must adopt these little orphans. 

I also made two acting companies, one of big animals, and one for the chil- 
dren, with a boar-hound called Sir Philip of Ravenswood for the manager of the 
first, and a little black and white kid, named Tim, for manager of the 
second, and at the Christmas of the same year that I formed the two companies 
I had two plays, the children acting "Hansel and Gretel," and the big animals 
"The Yeomen of the Guard." 

Being now unable to get any fresh families of small animals, I started a col- 
lection of big china animals, and soon had thirty-five, among whom were a Jersey 
bull and cow, another brown bull and a brown and white cow, two beautiful 
horses, several dogs, two donkeys, and two goats. 

These I kept apart from the small animals, in another cupboard ; but I still 
kept the lion king over them as well, and gave them two big animals, a blood- 
hound and a St. Bernard, as governors over them. 

Among the small animals I had a very learned-looking pig called Orsino, 
whom I made doctor, while an old bulldog, Dimboona, to whom I had been 
obliged to give two wooden legs, was Prime Minister. I also had a treasurer, a 
rent collector, a steward, and an under-steward. I also made a young boar- 
hound, called Panther, the son of Sir Philip, keeper of the stables, which con- 
sisted of ninety-two horses which I had made. 

And this brings the narrative of the growth of my china animal collection 
up to the present time, when I have 555 small animals and 35 big ones, 590 
iu all. , 



AT THE SEASIDE 



i 



AT THE SEASIDE 

Low Tide 

THE first thing to do on reaching the seaside is to find 
out when it is low tide. In each twelve hours low 
tide comes twenty minutes later, and knowing this 
you can arrange your days accordingly. [N'othing is so sad- 
dening as to run down the beach in the belief that the tide is 
going out and to find that it is coming in. 

Paddling 
To boys who wear knickerbockers the preparations for 
paddling are very simple ; but girls are not so fortunate. 
Lewis Carroll (who wrote Alice in Wonderland) took their 
difficulties so seriously that whenever he went to the seaside 
to stay he used to have with him a packet of safety-pins for 
the use of any children that seemed to be in need of them. 
This piece of thoughtfulness on his part might determine you 
to carry them for yourselves. 

A Cork Ship 
Sailing a good boat in the sea is not the best fun, but 
there is a kind of boat which is very easily made as you sit on 
the beach, and which is useful to play with when wading, and 
afterward to throw stones at. You take a piece of cork for 
the hull. Cut a line down the middle underneath and wedge 
a strip of slate in for a keel to keep her steady. Fix a piece 
of driftwood for a mast, and thread a piece of paper on that 
for a sail. 

Wet Clothes 
When wading it is just as well not to get your clothes 
wet if you can help it. Clothes that are made wet with sea- 

197 



198 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

water, which probably has a little sand in it, are as uncom- 
fortable as crumbs in bed. There is no reason why you should 
get them wet if you wade wisely. Sitting among the rocks, 
running through the water, and jumping the little crisping 
waves are the best ways to get soaked. 

Rocks 

Seaside places where there are rocks and a great stretch 
of sand are the best. Eocks make paddling twice as exciting, 
because of the interesting things in the little pools — the 
anemones, and seaweeds, and shells, and crabs, and shrimps, 
and perhaps little fish. Sometimes these pools are quite hot. 
To enjoy the rocks properly you want a net. 

Sand Castles, and Other Sand Games 
To make full use of the sands a spade is necessary and a 
pail important. The favorite thing to make is a castle and a 
moat, and although the water rarely is willing to stay in the 
moat it is well to pour some in. The castle may also have a 
wall round it and all kinds of other buildings within the wall. 
Abbeys are also made, and great houses with carefully ar- 
ranged gardens, and villages, and churches. Railways with 
towns and stations here and there along the line are easily 
made, and there is the fun of being the train when the line is 
finished. The train is a good thing to be, because the same 
person is usually engineer and conductor as well. Collisions 
are interesting now and then. The disadvantage of a rail- 
way on crowded sands is that passers-by injure the line and 
sometimes destroy, by a movement of the foot, a whole ter- 
minus ; it is therefore better at small watering-places that few 
people have yet discovered. If an active game is wanted as 
well as mere digging and building, a sand fort is the best thing 
to make, because then it has to be held and besieged, and per- 



AT THE SEASIDE 199 

haps captured. In all sand operations stones are useful to 
mark boundaries. 

Burying one another in the sand is good at the time, but 
gritty afterward. 

Seaweed 
Seaweed and shells make good collections, but there is no 
use in carrying live fish home in pails. The fun is in catching 
the fish, not in keeping it ; and some landladies dislike having 
the bath-room used as an aquarium. On wet days seaweed 
can be stuck on cards or in a book. The best way to get it to 
spread out and not crease on a card, is to float the little pieces 
in a basin and slip the card underneath them in the water. 
When the seaweed has settled on it, take the card out and 
leave it to dry. The seaweed will then be found to be stuck, 
except perhaps in places here and there, which can be made 
sure by inserting a little touch of gum. It is the smaller, 
colored kinds of seaweed that one treats in this way ; and it is 
w^ell to leave them for a day in the sun before washing and 
preparing, as this brings out their color. The ordinary large 
kind of seaw^eed is useful as a barometer. A piece hung by 
the door will tell when rain is coming by growing moist and 
soft. 

Shell Work 
A good use for little shells is to cover small boxes with 
them. The shells are arranged in a simple pattern and fast- 
ened on with glue. If the shells are not empty and clean, 
boil them, and scrub them with an old tooth-brush. 

Good Seaside Friends 
So many interesting things are to be seen at the seaside 
that there is no need to be always at play. Fishermen will 
come in with their boats, which need pulling up ; or a net that 



200 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

has been dropped near the shore will be drawn in from the 
beach, and you can perhaps help. If the town is not merely 
a watering-place but also a seaport, it is, of course, better, be- 
cause then there will be the life of the harbor to watch. To 
be friends with a lighthouse man is almost as good a thing as 
can happen ; and if there is both a lighthouse and a ship- 
builder's you could hardly be more fortunate. 



IN THE COUNTRY 




In the Country {Facing imge 202) 



IN THE COUNTRY 



THIS chapter has been written more for readers who 
live in a town and visit the country only during the 
holidays than for those whose home is always there. 
Regular country dwellers do not need to be told many of the 
things that follow ; but none the less there may be a few to 
find them useful. The principal special attractions of the 
country are — 



In the spring 
'' June . 
"July . 
"August 

"September 



Birds' nests. 

Bee-swarming and hay-making. 

Sheep-washiDg and shearing. 

Early windfalls and -harvest, 

r Blackberries, nuts, hops, mushrooms, 

\ and squirrels. 



Making Friends 
The most important thing to do when staying at a farm- 
house is to make friends with the principal people. The prin- 
cipal people are those in charge of the chickens and ducks, the 
cows and the horses. The way to make friends is to be as lit- 
tle trouble as possible. 

Exploration 
On reaching the farm, it is well to make a journey of dis- 
covery, in order to learn where everything is. The more one 
knows about the things in store — the size of the barn, the 
height of the haystacks, the number of horses, the name of 
the watch-dog, the position and character of the pond, and so 
forth — the simpler will it be, on going to bed, to make plans 
for the visit. 

203 



204 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

Finding Hens' Eggs 
The farmer's wife usually has charge of the chickens and 
ducks, but very often it is her daughter or a servant. IS^o 
matter who it is, as soon as she is convinced that you will be 
careful and thorough she will let you hunt for eggs. This is 
very exciting, because hens have a way of laying in nests in 
the wood and all kinds of odd places, hoping that no one will 
find them and they will thus be able to sit and hatch out their 
chickens. The hay in the stable is a favorite spot, and under 
the wood-pile, and among the long grass. Sometimes one over- 
looks a nest for nearly a week and then finds three or four eggs 
in it, one of them quite warm. This is a great discovery. 
Just at first it is easy to be taken in by the china nest-eggs, 
and to run indoors in triumph with one in your hand. But 
the farmer's wife will laugh and send you back with it, and the 
mistake is not likely to be made again. After a while one gets 
to know the hens personally, and to know the noise which means 
that they have just laid. Sometimes, if a hen is going to lay 
just as you come to her nest, she will run off clucking and 
screaming and lay the egg on the ground. 

Ducks' Eggs 
Ducks' eggs, which are rather larger than hens' eggs, and 
pale green in color, are often more difficult to find. They 
have to be hunted for in the grass by the pond. 

Feeding the Chickens 
The farmer's wife also lets her visitors feed the chickens 
if they are gentle with them and thoughtful. It needs quite 
a little thought, because if you throw down the grain without 
thinking, many of the weaker and less greedy ones will get 
nothing, and many of the stronger and greedier ones will get 
too much. After a few handf uls you can see which are the 
weaklings, and after that you can favor them accordingly. A 



IN THE COUNTRY 205 

greedy hen is so very greedy that she will always, whatever 
you do, get more than her share ; but it is possible to snub her 
a little. The very little chickens and ducklings do not have 
grain, but soft food, which is put in a saucer and placed inside 
the coop. It is after they have finished eating that they can 
most easily be picked up, but one must be very careful not to ^ 
squeeze them. 

The Dairy 
If the farmer's wife makes her own butter there will be an 
opportunity to help her. Perhaps she will let you use the 
skimmer. Turning the churn is not much fun except just 
when the butter forms. 



Bee-Swarming 

Bees swarm on hot days in the early summer, usually in 
a tree, but sometimes in a room, if the window is open, and 
often in a bush, quite close to the ground. When they 
swarm in a tree you would think a black snow-storm was rag- 
ing all around it. Every moment the cluster of bees grows 
larger and larger, until, after half an hour or so, it is quiet. 
Then the swarm has to be taken. This is the most interesting 
part, but you must be careful not to be too near in case an 
accident occurs and the bees become enraged and sting 
you. 

If the farmer has the new wooden hives with a glass 
covering he will very likely let you peep in and see the bees 
at work. Before doing this you certainly ought to read 
something about their exceedingly wonderful ways. One of 
the best books is Sir John Lubbock's (Lord Avebury's) Ants, 
Bees, and Wasps, but most encyclopaedias contain very in- 
teresting articles on the subject. 



2o6 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

The Cows 
The man who looks after the cows is a very valuable 
friend. He may even let you try to milk, which only 
specially gifted children ever succeed in doing at all well ; and 
he will teach you the cows' names (in some farms these are 
painted up over each stall — Primrose, Lightfoot, Sweetlips, 
Clover, and so on) ; and perhaps he will give you the task of 
fetching them from the meadow at milking time. 

Sheep 
In a general way sheep are not very interesting, 
especially in low-lying farms. But though sheep, as a rule, 
are dull, there are two occasions when they are not — at sheep- 
washing and sheep-shearing. The washers stand up to their 
knees, or even their waists, in the brook, in oilskin clothes, 
and seizing the struggling sheep one by one by the wool, plunge 
them into the water. Shearing is a finer art ; but the sheep is 
hardly less uncomfortable. He has to be thrown into various 
positions (on his back for one, and with his head between the 
shearer's knees for another), while the shears clip-clop all over 
him. The wool is not taken off in scraps, as our hair is at the 
barber's, but the whole fleece is removed in one huge piece. 

The Blacksmith 
It may be that while you are at the farm the day will 
come for having the horses shod, and you may go with them 
to the blacksmith. The blacksmith is of course a very im- 
portant person to be friends with ; and people are very fortu- 
nate if their lodgings in the country are close to a smithy. 
Some blacksmiths permit their friends to stand right inside 
the smithy, instead of just at the door, where strangers have 
to stay. Perhaps the blacksmith will ask you to blow his 
bellows while he is making a horseshoe, and it may happen 
that if he has not much work on hand he will make you a 



IN THE COUNTRY 207 

hoop that will be far cheaper and stronger than a bought one 
( see p. 169 ). In hot weather the flies are so troublesome to 
horses which are being shod, and make them so restless, that 
some one has to stand beside them and brush the flies away 
with a green branch. This job might fall to you. 

Birds'-Nesting 
One of the advantages of being in the country in spring 
is that that is the time when birds build. In May the weather 
is not yet sufficiently warm to make sitting about out-of-doors 
very comfortable, but birds'-nesting can make up for that. It 
is of no use to say in this book, " Don't take the eggs," be- 
cause it is possible only for one person here and there to be 
satisfied with merely finding a nest and then passing on to 
find another. But it is a pity for any one who is not a 
serious collector to take more than one egg. For your pur- 
poses one is enough, and the loss of a single egg rarely causes 
a bird to desert her nest. Of course if you know for certain 
that the nest is deserted, it is right to take all. You can find 
out by visiting it two or three times, and if the eggs remain 
cold or wet and there is no sign of the bird you may safely 
feel that she has abandoned them. Birds have so many, 
natural enemies to fear that it is hard that we should harm 
them too. 

Blowing Eggs 
For blowing eggs a brass or glass blow-pipe is the proper 
thing, using only one hole, which is made at the side with a 
little drill. But for your purpose a hole at each end made 
with a pin is simpler and equally good. In blowing you must 
be careful not to hold the egg so tightly in the fingers that its 
sides crush in. Before making the holes it is well to put the 
egg in a basin of water. If it sinks it is fresh and can be 
blown easily ; but if it floats it is set — that is to say, the 



2o8 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

young bird has begun to form — and blowing will be diffi- 
cult. In such cases it is wise, if you are using a blow-pipe, to 
make a largish hole and put a little water in and leave the 
egg to lie for a day or so ; then blowing it will be not much 
trouble. But if you have no blow-pipe the best thing to do is 
to make one good-sized hole in the less interesting side of the 
egg, and empty it with a bent pin. Then, when it is empty, 
you can put it in the egg box with the broken side underneath. 
Country boys often thread birds' eggs on a string which 
hangs from the ceiling, but the ordinary way is to put them 
in cotton-wool in a box with cardboard compartments. Mak- 
ing this box is a good country occupation for wet weather. 

Butterflies 
Butterfly-hunting begins when birds'-nesting is done and 
the weather is hot. Here again it is not the purpose of this 
book to go into particulars : the subject is too large. It is 
enough to say that the needful things are a large net of soft 
green gauze, a killing-bottle with a glass stopper, a cork-lined 
box with a supply of pins in which to carry the butterflies 
after they are dead, and setting boards for use at home. The 
good collector is very careful in transferring the butterfly 
from the net to the bottle, lest its wings are rubbed or broken ; 
and before taking it out of the bottle and putting it in 
the box you should be quite certain that it is dead. The way 
to get the butterfly into the bottle is to drive it into a corner 
of the net and hold it there, and then slip the bottle inside, 
remove the stopper, and shake the butterfly into it. The 
stopper should be off as short a time as possible. For hand- 
books for a butterfly collector see the " Reading " section. 

Collecting Flowers 
A quieter pastime, but a very interesting one, and also 
one that, unlike egg-collecting and butterfly-collecting, goes on 



IN THE COUNTRY 209 

all the year round, is collecting flowers. For this purpose tin 
cases are made, with straps to hold them from the shoulders, 
in which to keep the plants cool and fresh ; but there is no 
need to wait for the possession of one of these. An ordinary 
box or basket will, if you have not very far to walk, serve 
equally well. You will also need a press, which can be simply 
a couple of boards about a foot long and six inches wide, with 
a good supply of blotting-paper between. The flowers are 
pressed by spreading them very carefully, to show their beauty 
to best advantage, between the blotting-paper, and then piling 
a few books on the boards. The weight need not be very 
heavy and the blotting-paper should frequently be renewed. 
You will soon learn how long the pressing need continue, but 
it is of the highest importance that the flowers are thoroughly 
dried before you mount them in your album or on separate 
sheets of paper. The simplest form of mounting is to glue 
little strips of paper here and there across the stems. A bo- 
tanical collection is more valuable if the roots of the plants 
are also included ; and this will make it necessary for you to 
have a long trowel. For the collector of flowers a handbook 
is compulsory. Such a book as Alice Lounsberry's The Wild 
Flower Book for Young Peojple gives many details of the 
growth and nature of plants, told with a story that makes the 
book unusually interesting, and will arouse your enthusiasm to 
gather wild flowers and see how large a collection of them you 
can make. 

It is interesting, if you have any skill in painting, to make 
water-color copies of all the flowers that you find : another 
good occupation for wet days in the countr3^ 

Nuts and Blackberries 
In nutting you want a hooked stick with which to pull 
down the branches. For blackberries a hooked stick is not so 



210 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

important, but it is well to have leather gloves. The black- 
berries ought to be dry when they are picked. Kain takes 
their flavor away ; so you should wait until the sun comes 
again and restores it. One thing that you quickly notice is 
that all blackberries are not after the same pattern. There 
are different kinds, just as there are different kinds of straw- 
berry and raspberry. Some are hard and Yery closely built ; 
some are loosely built, with large cells which squash between 
the fingers ; some come between these two varieties ; and there 
are still others. For eating on the spot the softer ones are the 
best, but for cooking and for jam the harder ones are equally 
good. 

In picking blackberries you soon find that it is better to 
have the sun at your back, because if it shines through the 
bush into your eyes you cannot distinguish clearly between 
the shades of blackness. An open basket full of black- 
berries is a radiant sight. Each of the little cells has a 
point of light, and thousands of these together are as gay as 
jewels. 

]^o one need starve on the open road in September, for 
there is food on every hedge — two good courses. Nuts are 
there as the standby, the backbone of the meal, and after 
come blackberries, as pudding or dessert. To pick the two for 
an hour, and then, resting beneath a tree, to eat until all are 
gone — that is no bad way to have lunch. If you take advice 
in this matter, you will not crack the nuts with your teeth but 
between stones. 

Ponds and Sailing Boats 

Near the farm is certain to be either a pond or a stream. 

If it is a clean and high pond, not in a hollow surrounded by 

trees, it will be good to sail boats on. Sailing boats on inland 

water is much better than on the sea, because, with a pond. 



IN THE COUNTRY 211 

directly the boat is fairly started on its voyage you can run 
round the other side and meet it. Even with a very poor pond 
it is still possible to have a very good time. In buying or 
making a boat, be sure that the lead along the keel is heavy 
enough. So little do toy-shop people think of these things 
that they very often put no lead at all on their boats, and more 
often than not put too little. Once a boat is properly 
weighted in this way you are certain to have fun in sailing her, 
bub otherwise it will be useless to try. In boat-sailing it is 
well to have a long stick with a hook at the end with which 
to draw the ship to land. For suggestions as to making a use- 
ful and simple sailing-boat see p. 295. 

Little Boats on a Stream 
Sailing boats in a stream is little good, because there is no 
steadiness of wind, but ordinary boats will float along in the 
current splendidly. It is interesting to launch one and follow 
its adventures from the bank. Sometimes it will be caught in 
a weed; sometimes an eddy will sweep it into a back water; 
sometimes, in shooting the rapids, it will be overturned. But 
a long stick can always put things right. Or one of you will 
go down the stream to a given point and the other will send 
down messengers — pieces of wood, walnut boats (see p. 298), 
paper boats (see p. 285), or whatever it may be. 

A Stream's Fascination 
But there is no absolute need for you to have boats in 
order to enjoy a stream. There are so many other things to 
do, not the least interesting being to make a dam and stop or 
divert the course of the water. And when tired of playing it 
is very good to sit quite still on the bank and watch things 
happening : perhaps a water-rat will swim along suspecting 
nothing, and then, seeing you make a movement, will dive and 



212 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

disappear, and suddenly come into view ever so far away on 
the other bank. Perhaps a kingfisher will flash by or settle 
on a branch overhanging the water. Kingfishers grow more 
rare every year, owing to the merciless and unthinking zeal 
with which they are shot; and maybe before long there will 
be no more to be seen anywhere. 

Solitary Watchfulness 
Indeed, to keep absolutely quiet and watch things hap- 
pening is for many people one of the most delightful occupa- 
tions which the country holds. When there is no one else to 
play with it is as good a way of spending the time as can be 
found. 

Mice and Moles 
In a wood or in any place where there are old leaves, as 
in a dry ditch, you will usually get through the ear the first 
tidings of any moving thing. For instance, you will hear a 
field-mouse rustling long before you can see its queer pointed 
nose pushing its way through the dead leaves. Or it may be 
a mole blundering blindly along. If by any chance a mole is 
caught in a trap while you are in the country, be sure to 
examine its little hands and feel the softness of its fur. Per- 
haps the farm boy will skin it for you. 

Snakes 
Sometimes the rustling is a snake on his way to a sunny 
spot where he can bask and sleep. Yery slender brown 
speckled snakes, or blind-worms, are quite harmless, and so 
are the large grass-snakes, which are something like a mack- 
erel in lines and markings. The adder, however, which is 
yellowish brown in color with brown markings and a " Y " 
on his head, is dangerous and should be avoided. 



IN THE COUNTRY 213 

Ants 
On p. 205 is given the title of a book about bees. Hardly 
less wonderful are ants, concerning whom there is much curi- 
ous information in the same work, the reading of which makes 
it ten times more interesting to watch an ant-hill than it was 
before. One sometimes has to remember that it is as serious 
for ants to have their camp stirred up by a walking-stick as it 
would be for ^ew York if Vesuvius were tossed on top of it. 

Swallows and Hawks 
In the flight of birds there is nothing to compare for 
beauty and speed with the swift, or for power and cleverness 
Avith the hawk. On moist evenings, when the swifts fly low 
and level, backward and forward, with a quaint little musical 
squeak, like a mouse's, they remind one of fish that dart 
through the water of clear streams under bridges. The hawk, 
even in a high wind, can remain, by tilting his body at the 
needed angle, perfectly still in the air, while his steady wide 
eyes search the ground far below him for mice or little birds. 
Then, when he sees something, his body suddenly seems to be 
made of lead and he drops like a stone on his prey. A hawk 
can climb the sky by leaning with outspread wings against 
the breeze and cork-screwing up in a beautiful spiral. 

Squirrels 
The time to see squirrels is September and October, when 
the beech nuts and hazel nuts are ripe. In the pictures he 
sits up, with his tail resting on his back, holding nuts in his 
little forepaws ; but one does not often see him like this in 
real life. He is either scampering over the ground with his 
tail spread out behind him or chattering among the branches 
and scrambling from one to another. The squirrel is not seen 
at his best when he goes nutting. His beautiful swift move- 
ments are checked by the thickness of the hazels. In a beech 



214 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

grove he has more liberty to run and leap. Sometimes you 
will see twenty at once all nibbling the beech nuts on the 
ground. On hearing you they make for a tree trunk, and, 
rushing up it for a yard or two, stop suddenly, absolutely 
still, with fearful eyes, and ears intently and intensely cocked. 
If you stand equally still the squirrel will stay there, motion- 
less, like a piece of the tree, for a minute or so, and then, in 
a very bad temper, disappear from view on the other side of 
the trunk, and probably, though you run round the tree 
quickly several times and search every branch with your eyes, 
never come into sight again. It is a good thing to sit under 
a tree some distance from the beech trees, making as little 
movement as possible ; and by and by you will cease to be 
considered as anything but a regular part of the landscape 
and the squirrels may come quite close to you. 

A Country Diary 
If you are fond of writing you might find a good deal of 
interest in keeping a country diary : that is to say, a small 
note-book in which you set down evening by evening all 
things seen during the day that seemed to be sufficiently out 
of the way to be worth recording. 

A Camera in the Country 
Nothing is said in this book about amateur photography, 
because to own a camera is still the exception rather than the 
rule, and if once we began to say anything practical about 
photography we should have to say very much more than the 
scheme of the volume permits. But we might urge any 
reader who has a camera to use it in the country in taking 
pictures of animal life and old buildings. Old-fashioned farm- 
houses and cottages are disappearing so rapidly that we ought 
to keep as many records of them as possible, and well-chosen 
photographs of animals are not only beautiful pictures, but 



IN THE COUNTRY 215 

are also very useful. Mr. Kearton's work in this way, which 
may be studied in With Nature and a Cameray is extremely 
valuable. 

Country Books 
In the "Eeading" chapter will be found the titles of 
several books which describe life in the country, and tell you 
all about the habits of animals, birds, and insects. 



DOLLS' HOUSES 



DOLLS' HOUSES 

THE most magnificent ready-made dolls' house in the 
world, with gables and windows, stairs, front garden, 
and the best furniture, cannot quite make up to its 
owner for all the delight she has missed by not making it 
herself. Of course some things, such as cups and saucers, 
glasses and bottles, saucepans and kitchen utensils, must be 
bought ; but almost all the really necessary things for house- 
keeping can be made at home. 

Dolls' Gardens 
One adv^antage of making the dolls' house yourself is that 
you can arrange for it to have a garden, a provision rarely 
made by toy-shops. Grass plots can be made of green baize 
or other cloth of the right color ; garden paths of sand 
sprinkled over glue, or of strips of sand-paper ; flower-beds of 
brown paper, and the flowers of tissue-paper and wire. A 
summer-house, and a dog-kennel to hold a china dog, might 
also be added (see p. 241), and, if you have room, stables. 

Garden Chairs and Tables 
Garden seats and tables can be made of cardboard and 
cork. For a seat, take a card two or three inches long and 
not quite as broad. Mark it right across, lengthwise, in the 
middle with a sharp knife, and then half fold it. This will 
make the back and seat. Glue the seat to four slender corks 
for legs and paint the whole green. To make a table, glue 
four cork legs to a strong piece of cardboard. 

219 



220 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

The House '^ 

A dolls' house can be made of almost any kind of box. 
For the simplest and smallest kind cigar boxes can be used, 
and the furniture made of cork, for which directions are given 
later; or a couple of low shelves in a bookcase or cupboard 
will do. Much better, however, is a large well-made packing- 
case divided by wooden and strong cardboard partitions into 
two, four, or six rooms, according to its size. A specially made 
box is, of course, best of all ; this should be divided into four 
or six rooms, and should have a sloping roof to give attic room 
for boxes and odd furniture. The house can be stained out- 
side or papered a plain dark color. One or two windows 
should be cut out of the walls of each room by the carpenter 
who made the box, and there must be doors between the 
rooms. A piece of thin glass cut to the right size can be fixed 
on the windows at home. But before this is done the house 
must be papered. The best kind of paper is that used by 
bookbinders for the insides of the covers, because the patterns 
used are so dainty and small ; but this is not always easy to 
get. Any small-patterned paper will do, or what is called 
lining paper, which can be got in every color. The paper 
must be very smoothly put on with paste. Always start at 
the top when pressing it to the wall, and smooth it downward 
gently. Dadoes or friezes can be divided off with the tiny 
beading which frame-makers use, or with a painted line, which 
must be straight and evenly done. 

Fireplaces 
Fireplaces, which can be bought or made at home, should 
be put in next. To make one yourself, take a strong card- 
board-box lid about four inches long and two wide (though 
the size must depend on the size of the room). Yery neatly 
cut off a quarter of it. This smaller part, covered with gold 



DOLLS' HOUSES 221 

or silver paper, will make the fender. Then cut off both sides 
of the remaining piece, leaving the strip at the top to form 
the mantelpiece. Glue the back of the cover to the wall, hang 
little curtains from the shelf, put some ornaments on it, ar- 
range the fender in front, and the fireplace is complete. A 
grate can be imitated in cardboard painted black and red. 

A Furnishing Game 
A splendid game of shop can be played while the furnish- 
ing is going on : in fact, from the moment you have the bare 
house a board or sign with " To Let or For Sale " will quickly 
attract house-hunting dolls, and when a couple have taken it 
they will have their days full of shopping before it is ready 
for them. You will, of course, yourself be the manufacturers 
and shopkeepers. It is well to make out careful bills for 
everything sold, and the more things you can display in your 
show-rooms the better. All house-hunting dolls require plenty 
of money. 

Curtains 
Windows have been mentioned, but they are not by any 
means a necessity. Yet even if you cannot have windows, 
you should put up curtains, for they make the rooms prettier. 
Shades can be made of linen, edged at the bottom with a piece 
of lace, and nailed on the wall just above the window. During 
the day these are rolled up and tied. "White curtains should 
be bordered with lace and run on a piece of tape, which can 
be nailed or pinned on both sides of the window. They will 
then draw. The heavy inside curtains can be hung on a pen- 
cil (which may be gilded or left its own color) supported by 
two picture screws. Fasten these curtains back with narrow 
ribbons. Some dolls' houses, of course, are fitted with real 
doors. But if you do not have these, it is perhaps well to 
hang the doorway with curtains, also on pencils. 



222 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

Floors 
The floors can be stained or painted either all over or 
round the edges. Carpets are better not made of ordinary 
carpet, for it is much too thick, but of colored canvas, or 
chintz, or thin felt, or serge. A rug made of a plain colored 
material with a cross-stitch or embroidered pattern around it 
is very pretty. Fine matting can also be used, and oil-cloth 
is excellent for the kitchen. 

General Remarks on Furnishing 
In another place in this book (pp. 228-233) will be found 
instructions for making furniture for very small and simple 
dolls' houses ; but for a good dolls' house with several good- 
sized rooms you would probably prefer, for the most part, to 
use bought things. Square tables are of course easy to make 
(a cardboard-box lid on four legs is practically the whole 
thing), and there are other articles which, if you see your way 
to devise, are better made at home, instructions for which will 
be found as you read on ; but chairs and round tables and so 
forth are perhaps most satisfactory when they come from the 
toy-shop. Both in buying furniture and in making it, it is 
necessary always to remember the size of the rooms and of the 
dolls, and the size of whatever furniture you may already 
have, so as to keep everything in proportion. 

Beds 
Beds can be made of cardboard-boxes of different sizes. 
The box turned upside down makes the bed itself, and the 
cover should be fixed upright behind it for curtains to hang 
from. These curtains and the frill round the bed should be 
made of any thin material, such as muslin. The mattress, 
bolster, and pillows are best made of cotton-wool covered with 
muslin or calico. Sheets may be made also out of muslin ; 
pillow-cases should be edged with lace ; for blankets you use 



DOLLS' HOUSES 



223 



flannel, button-hole-stitched round with colored silk or wool, 
and the quilt will look best if made of a dainty piece of silk, 
or muslin over a colored sateen to match the curtains. A tiny 




Caedboaed Box Beds 

nightdress case should not be forgotten. Beds for doll chil- 
dren can be made in the same way out of match-boxes ; and 
for cozy little cots for babies there are walnut shells. 

Bead Furniture 
Chairs can be made with wire, beads, a little silk or cot- 
ton material, some cardboard and cotton-wool. To make a 




224 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

chair in this way, cut a piece of cardboard the size that you 
want the seat to be. Lay a good wad of cotton- wool over it, 
and then cover it neatly. On a piece of strong wire thread 
enough beads to go round the seat of the chair. Sew this 
firmly to the seat. Then thread beads on four pieces of wire 
the right length for the legs, and leave a little piece of wire 
with which to fasten them to the wire round the seat. Then 
make the back from a longer piece of wire, bent into shape 
and attached to the seat in the same way, and put a short row 
of beads across the middle. You will need a pair of tweezers 
to cut the wire and to finish the fastening securely. 

Pictures 
Pictures for the walls can be made very easily. The pic- 
ture itself will be a scrap or tiny photograph. This is pasted 
on a piece of cardboard larger than itself, and round the edge 
of that you place a strip of whatever colored paper you want 
for the frame. The picture cord, a piece of cotton, can be 
glued on the back. More elaborate frames are cut out of 
cardboard and bound round with colored silk and covered 
with gold paint. The picture is then stuck into it. 

Bookshelves and Books 

The simplest bookshelves are those that hang from a nail 
on the wall. They are made by cutting two or three strips of 
cardboard of the size of the shelves and boring holes at the 
corners of each. These are then threaded one by one on four 
lengths of silk or fine string, knots being tied to keep the 
shelves the right distance apart. Care has to be taken to get 
the knots exactly even, or the shelf will be crooked. 

Books can be made by sewing together a number of tiny 
sheets of paper, with a colored cover and a real or invented 
title. Sometimes these books contain real stories. 



DOLLS' HOUSES 225 

Other Articles 

A dolls' house ought to be as complete as possible, and 
though this will take a long time it is absorbingly interesting 
work from start to finish. It should be the ambition of the 
mistress of a dolls' house to have it as well furnished as the 
house of a grown-up person, and if she looks round the rooms 
in her own home carefully she will see how many things can 
be copied. There will be cushions to make, fancy table-cloths 
for different tables, toilet-covers and towels for the bedroom, 
splashers to go behind wash-stands, mats in front of them, and 
roll-towels and kitchen cloths for the kitchen. 

Everything should be made of the thinnest and finest 
material, cut with the greatest care and sewn with the tiniest 
stitches. Light and dainty colors are best for a dolls' house. 
If you have several rooms, it is a good plan to have a pink 
room, a blue room, a yellow room, and in each room to have 
everything of different shades of that color and white. Per- 
haps no material is so useful to the owner of a dolls' house as 
art muslin. It is soft, cheap, and very pretty. 

Coming to other furniture which can be made at home, we 
find screens (made of cardboard and scraps), music for the 
piano, walking-sticks, flowers (made of colored tissue-paper and 
wire), flower-pots (made of corks covered with red paper), cup- 
boards to keep linen and glass in (made out of small card- 
board boxes, fitted with shelves), and many other little things 
which, if you look round your own home carefully, will be 
suggested to you. Even bicycles can be imitated in cardboard . 
and placed in the hall. 

The Inhabitants 
As to dolls, the more the merrier. They are so cheap and 
can be dressed so easily that it seems a great pity not to have 
a large family and a larger circle of friends who will occa- 



226 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

sionally visit them. There must be a father and a mother, a 
baby and some children, servants (in stiff print dresses with 
caps and aprons), and certainly a bride, who, if her dress can- 
not be changed for an ordinary one, ought to be kept care- 
fully hidden, except when there is a wedding. 



Dressing Dolls 
It is rather difficult to dress these tiny dolls so that their 
clothes will take off and on, but it is much better to do so if 
possible. In any case they can have capes and hats which 
take off. The thinnest materials make the best underclothes, 
but stiff material for dresses makes it possible to stand the 
dolls up. Glove buttons, and the narrowest ribbons, tapes, 
and laces, are useful things to have when you are dressing 
doUs'-house dolls. 

Dolls' Dinner Parties 
Dolls occasionally require parties. The food may be real 
or imitation. If real, — such as currants and raisins, sugar and 
candied peel, — it is more amusing at the moment ; but if imi- 
tation, you have a longer time of interest in making it. Get 
a little flour, and mix it with salt and water into a stiff paste, 
like clay. Then mould it to resemble a round of beef, a 
chicken, a leg of mutton, potatoes, pies, or whatever you want, 
and stand it in front of the fire to dry. When dry, paint (in 
water-color) to resemble these things still more. If there is 
clay in the garden, you can make all these things from that, 
and many others too. 

Dolls' Flats 
Just as people live not only in houses but in flats, so may 
there be dolls' flats as well as dolls' houses. A dolls' flat con- 
sists of a board on which the outline of the rooms is made 



1 



DOLLS' HOUSES 



227 



with single bricks. For example, a four-roomed flat might be 
arranged like this — 



X 



L-JL— I I 177? y-' i < t • "i... 



Kx^tchert 



Ball 






■I r r t 



Bee^ rocn. 



fe 



-EL 



r I \"\ \ \ \ \ jT 



A Doll's Apartments 

To lay the bricks on a board is not necessary. They can be 
laid on the floor equally well, except that when you have done 
playing you will have then to put them away again, whereas 
if placed on a board they can be left till next time. Nor is 
there any reason why the walls should not be higher than a 
single brick ; that is merely a matter of taste. Once the walls 
are ready the furniture and dolls can be put in in the ordinary 
way. 



Smaller Dolls' Houses 
So far we have been considering larger dolls' houses. 
But there are also smaller ones, which naturally require much 
smaller furniture. These dolls' houses can be made of card- 
board (as described on p. 237 and on), or they can be merely 
small boxes — even cigar boxes ; and the dolls and furniture in 
them can be, if you like, all paper, or made of materials in 
ways that are now suggested. 



228 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

Cork and Match-box Furniture 
This furniture, if very neatly made, can be very successful, 
and it costs almost nothing. Plain pins will do quite well, 
although the fancy ones are much prettier. Velvet or thin 
cloth is best for the dining-room furniture ; silk for the draw- 
ing room ; and some light-colored cotton material for the bed- 
rooms. 

Materials 

You will need — 

Several good -sized corks, or pickle corks, for the larger things. 
Some pieces of fancy silk or velvet. 

A number of strong pins of different sizes. (The fancy pins v^ith large white, 
black, and colored heads are best.) 

Some wool, silk, or tinsel which will go well with the silk or velvet. 
A strong needle and a spool of cotton. 

Chairs 
Cut a round or square piece of cork about quarter of an 
inch thick and one inch across. Cover it with a piece of silk 




Cork Arm-Chaie 
or velvet, making all the stitches on that side of the cork 
which will be the under side of the seat. For the legs put a 



DOLLS' HOUSES 229 

pin firmly into each corner. Wind a little wool or silk firmly 
round each leg, finishing it off as neatly as possible. The 
back of the seat is made by sticking four pins rather closely 
together and winding the wool or silk in and out of them. 
Fasten the wool with a tiny knot both when you begin wind- 
ing and when you finish. Armchairs are made in the same 
way, except that they are rather larger, and arms — made of 
small pins — are added. 

Chestnut Chairs 
Yery good dining-room chairs can be made of chestnuts. 
The flatter side of the nut is the seat, and in this are stuck 




Chestnut Chaie 

pins for the back (and arms if necessary), which maybe bound 
together with gold or silver tinsel. Other pins are stuck in 
underneath for legs. 

Sofas 
For a sofa a piece of cork about two inches long and half 
an inch thick is needed. This must be covered, and then 
quite short pins stuck in for legs. Put a row of short pins 



230 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

along one side and the two ends, and wind the wool neatly in 
and out of them. 

Tables 
Round tables can be made best of different-sized pieces of 
cork, with very strong pins for legs ; and square ones of the 
outside of a wooden match-box, with four little medicine- 




Fancy Table 

bottle corks glued under it for legs. In either case it is 
most important to have the legs well fixed on and of exactly 
the same length. It is not necessary to cover a table, but a 
table-cloth of silk, either fringed, or hemmed with tiny stitches, 
and a white table-cloth for meals, should be made. 

Fancy tables can be made by taking a flat round cork 
and sticking pins into it at regular intervals all round. Weave 
silk or tinsel in and out of the pins until they are covered. 
(See above.) 

Foot-Stools 
Several small pieces of cork may be covered to make 
foot-stools. 

Standard Lamp 

A serviceable standard lamp can be made by taking a 

small empty cotton spool, gilding or painting it, and fixing 

the wooden part of a thin penholder firmly into it. On the 

top of it glue a round piece of cork, on which a lamp-shade, 



I 



DOLLS' HOUSES 



231 



made of one of the little red paper caps that chemists put on 
bottles, can be placed. 

Bedroom Furniture — Materials 
You will need — 

Two large wooden match-boxes. 
Several corks of different sizes. 

Some pieces of chintz, of cotton material, flannel, linen, oil-cloth, and a 
little cottou-wool. 

An empty walnut shell. 

Several wooden matches with the heads taken off. 

Pins of different sizes. 

Wool, silk or tinsel, for the backs of the chairs. 

A tube of glue. 

Beds 
To make a bed, take the inside of a match-box and cut 
away the bottom of it. Then take two matches and glue 
them to the two corners at the head of the bed so that a por. 




Match-Box Bedstead 

tion sticks out below the bed for legs and above the bed for a 
railing. Cut two more matches to the same length as these 
others, less the part of them that serves for legs, and fasten 



232 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

these at equal distances from each other and from the two 
others already glued in position. Mong the top of these 
place another match for a rail, and the head of the bed is 
done. For the foot of the bed repeat these operations ex- 
actly, except that all the upright matches must be a little 
shorter. Then cut off one end of the bottom of the box and 
fit it in to form the part of the bed that takes the mattress. 
The bedstead, when made, should be like the one in the ac- 
companying picture. A little mattress must now be made to 
fit the bed exactly; it can be stuffed with cotton- wool or 
bran. A pillow, blankets, sheets, and a fancy coverlet may 
also be made, and a very thin and tiny frill should be put 
right round the bed to hide the box. 

A very pretty baby's cradle can be made out of half a 
walnut shell. It should be lined, and curtains should be 
hung from a match fastened upright at one end of the shell. 

Dressing-Tables 
The outside of the same match-box that was used for the 
bed will make a dressing-table. Stand it up on either side of 
its striking sides, and glue or sew a piece of light-colored thin 
material all round it, and then over this put a muslin frill. 
Make a little white cloth to lay on the top of the table. The 
looking-glass is made by fixing a square of silver paper in a 
cardboard frame. 

"Washstands 
Take the inside of another match-box and stand it up on 
one of its sides. Then take five or six matches and cut them 
to that length which, when they are glued in an upright row 
at equal distances apart to the back of the match-box, will 
cause them to stand up above the top of it about a third of an 
inch. On the tops of them then lay another match to make a 
little railing. Cover the box as you did the dressing-table. 



DOLLS' HOUSES 



233 



Put a little mat of oil-cloth on the top of the box, and make 
another large one to lay in front of it. Proper jugs and 




Match-Box Washstand 

basins will, of course, have to be bought, but an acorn cup or 
small shell makes a very good toy basin. 

Wardrobes 
The wardrobe is made by standing the inside of a match- 
box on end, fixing inside several little pegs made of small 
pieces of match stuck in with glue, and hanging two little 
curtains in front of it. If, when done, it seems too low, it 
may be raised on four little corks. 

Towel-Rack 
A towel-horse can easily be made with six long pins and 
two small pieces of cork. 




Towel Rack 



23+ 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 



Clothes-Basket 
To make a clothes-basket, take a round piece of cork 
about a quarter of an inch thick and stick pins closely together 



MMilii 



Clothes Basket 

all round it, as in the above picture. Then weave wool in 
and out of them. 



] 



DOLLS' HOUSES AND DOLLS OF 
CARDBOARD AND PAPER 



DOLLS' HOUSES AND DOLLS OF 
CARDBOARD AND PAPER 

ACAEDBOAED house, furnished with paper furniture 
and occupied by paper dolls, is a very good substitute 
for an ordinary dolls' house, and the making of it is 
hardly less interesting. The simplest way to make a card- 
board house is to cut it all (with the exception of the parti- 
tion and the roof) in one piece. 

The plan given here is for a two-roomed cottage, the 
measurements for which can be multiplied to whatever size 
you like (or whatever is the utmost that your sheet of card- 
board will permit). The actual model from which this plan 
was made (the house was built from a royal sheet of Bristol 
board) had a total floor measurement of 8 inches by 14. The 
end walls were 5 inches high, the side walls 5 inches, sloping 
up to 7 in the middle, and the partition was 7 inches. The 
roof was slightly wider than the floor, in order to make wide 
eaves, and as much longer as was needful not only for the 
eaves but also to allow for the angle. 

The first thing to do is to rule the outline of the cottage. 
All the measurements must be most accurately made, as the 
slightest incorrectness will keep the house from fitting together 
properly. Then cut it out. When this is done, draw the win- 
dows and doors. Then lay your cardboard on a board, and 
run your knife along each side of the windows and the three 
free sides of the doors until the card is cut through. A ruler 
held close to the penciled line will make your knife cut 
straight. The bars across the windows can be made of strips 
of paper glued on afterward. If the doors have a tiny 
piece shaved off each of the cut sides, they will open and shut 
easily. 

237 



238 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

To make the front door open well, outward, the hinge 
line of the door (KK) should be half cut through on the inside. 
The hinge can be strengthened by gluing a narrow strip of 
paper or linen along it. At the three points marked H make 
small slits through which to put the tags, marked G, of the 
partition wall. 

All drawing and painting must be done on both sides 
while the house is still flat. The doors inside will need 
handles and keyholes. Small pieces of mica can be glued 
over the windows instead of glass. 

Little curtains of crinkly tissue-paper can also be made, 
and, if you like, the walls can easily be papered with colored 
paper pasted on. This will cause some delay, however, for it 
must be well pressed. Instead, wall-paper patterns could be 
painted on. 

Outside — that is, on the underside of the cardboard — 
there is a great deal to do. Both walls and roof can be 
painted, and tiles, bricks, and creepers imitated. The front 
door should have a knocker and a letter-box, and around both 
the door and the windows should be imitation framework. 
As the upright joints of the four walls will be made of linen 
painted to imitate brick-work or stone-work, you need not 
carry the painting of the walls quite to the edges, because 
these will be covered by the joints. It is best to paint the 
joints before you stick them on. 

Before turning the card ov^er again, run your knife along 
the four sides of the floor to assist the bending up of the walls. 
Do not on any account cut through ; merely make a half cut. 

When you have drawn and painted all you can think of 
to make the house complete and pretty, take your strips of 
linen, for the fastening of the walls, crease them in half, 
lengthwise, and glue one half to the outside of the edge of the 
walls marked CB and DE in the plan. When this is quite 



DOLLS' HOUSES 



239 




Fi^o(?6 I. 

Caedboaed Dolls' House 



240 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW 9 



dry, bend the back wall and the two side walls up, and glue 
the free sides of the strips to the wall marked AB and EF, 
holding the walls firmly together until well stuck. Strengthen 
the fold LM, which has to serve as a hinge for the front of 
the house, with a strip of linen glued underneath. The 
sides of the front wall must remain unattached, as that forms 
the opening. It can be kept closed by a strong pin slipped 
throuojh the roof. 




Appearance of House When Complete 
The Partition 
Now for the partition. Put the three tags G G G 
through the slits H H H and glue them firmly down on the 
outside. (These will have to be touched up with paint.) The 
roof must then be put on. Cut out a slit N an inch long to fit 
the tag on the partition, also marked N. Run your knife 
along the dotted line underneath, and fold it to the necessary 
angle to fit the sloping walls. Where the roof touches the 
end walls it must be fastened on with strips of linen or paper, 
which have been folded in the same way as before and one 
half fastened securely to the walls. It is important to let it 
get quite dry before gluing the other half to the roof. 



DOLLS' HOUSES 



241 




pt^«He 




1 



Dog Kennel (Fig. 1) and Roof (Fig. 2) 



242 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

The Chimney 
The chimney, of which the illustration is the actual size, 
is the last thing to be made. First paint, and then fold the 
two side pieces downward, cut out the three little holes 
and put into them three chimneys, made by folding small 
pieces of paper, painted red, round a penholder, and gluing 
their edges together. The chimney is fixed to the sloping 
roof with very small pieces of glued paper. Eemember 
that all the pieces of paper used as fastening ought to be 
touched up with paint. The chimney in the drawing of the 
complete house on page 240 is put at the side of the roof, but 
it may even better go in the middle. 

The Garden 
The cottage can then be fixed to a piece of wood or paste- 
board, to form its garden and add to convenience in moving it 
about. A cardboard fence and gate can be cut out and 
painted green. A path to the front door is made by covering 
a narrow space of the cardboard with very thin glue over 
which, while it is wet, sand is sprinkled to imitate gravel. 
Moss will do for evergreens, and grass plots can be made of 
green cloth. A summer-house, garden chairs and tables are 
easily cut out of cardboard. So also are a rabbit-hutch, 
pump, dove-cot, and dog-kennel. A plan of a dog-kennel, 
actual size, is given. 

Another Way 
It is, of course, possible to make a house of several pieces 
instead of one. The walls and floors can be made separately 
and joined with linen strips ; but this adds to the difficulty of 
the work and causes the houses to be less steady. Cardboard 
houses can also be made with two floors. 



DOLLS' HOUSES 243 

" The House That Glue Built " 
A novel kind of paper house has been gotten out in book 
form. It is called The House That Glue Built^ and consists 
of pictures of rooms, without furniture, which is shown on 
separate sheets. The object is to cut out the furniture, ar- 
range it and paste it in its proper place. The illustration 
shows the library, and the furniture for it. There is also a 
sheet of dolls to be cut out, who represent the owners of the 
house. Two other books on the same order are The Fun 
That Glue Made and Stories That Glue Told. They are all 
easily put together, and are lots of fun. 

Paper Furniture 
Everything required for the furnishing and peopling of a 
cardboard dolls' house can be made of paper; and if colored at 
all cleverly the furniture will appear to be as solid as that of 
wood. After cutting out and joining together one or two of 
the models given in the pages that follow, and thus learning 
the principle on which paper furniture is made, you will be 
able to add all kinds of things to those mentioned here or to 
devise new patterns for old articles, such as chairs and desks. 

Glue and Adhesive Tape 
Two recent inventions of the greatest possible use to the 
maker of paper furniture are fish-glue which gets dry very 
quickly and is more than ordinarily strong, and adhesive tape. 
Glue can be bought for very little, and adhesive tape, which is 
sold principally for mending music and the torn pages of 
books, is put up in inexpensive spools. 

Home-Made Compasses 
A pair of compasses is a good thing to have ; but you can 
make a perfectly serviceable tool by cutting out a narrow 
strip of cardboard about four inches long and boring holes at 



244 WHAT SMALL WE DO NOW ? 

intervals, of a quarter of an inch, through which the point of 
a pencil can be placed. If one end of the strip is fastened to 
the paper with a pin you can draw a circle of what size you 
want, up to eight inches across. 

Materials 
These are the materials needed when making paper fur- 
niture : — 

A few sheets of stiff note-paper or drawing-paper. Scissors. A penknife. 
A ruler (a flat one). A mapping-pen. A box of paints. A board to cut out 
on. Adhesive tape or stamp-paper. Glue. 

Tracing 

If the drawings are to be traced, tracing-paper, or trans- 
parent note-paper, and a sheet of carbon-paper, will also be 
needed. To trace a drawing, cover it with paper and draw it 
exactly. Then cover the paper or cardboard from which you 
wish to cut out the furniture with a piece of carbon-paper, 
black side down, and over that place your tracing. Draw over 
this again with a very sharply pointed pencil or pointed stick, 
and the lines will be repeated by the carbon-paper on the under 
sheet of paper. 

The furniture, for which designs are given in this chapter, 
can be made of stiff note-paper, Whatman's drawing-paper, or 
thin Bristol board. The drawings can be copied or traced. 
In either case the greatest care must be taken that the meas- 
urements are minutely correct and the lines perfectly straight. 
A slip of paper is a very good thing to measure with. 

Enough designs have been given to show how most dif- 
ferent kinds of furniture can be made. These can, of course, 
be varied and increased by copying from good furniture lists ; 
while many little things such as saucepans, dishes, clocks, and 
so forth, can be copied from stores lists and added to the few 
that are given on p. 248. 



1 




The Library and Furniture from 
"The House that Glue Built " (Facing jioge 2^^) 



DOLLS' HOUSES 245 

These small articles are cut out flat, but an extra piece of 
paper is left under each, which, when bent back, makes a 
stand. 

General Instructions 

The front legs of chairs, the legs of tables, and the backs 
of furniture must be neatly joined together by narrow strips 
of stamp-paper or adhesive tape. To do this, cut a strip of the 
right size, crease it down the middle, and stick one side. 
Allow this to dry, before you fix the other. 

Wherever in the pictures there is a dotted line, it means 
that the paper is to be folded there. It will be easily seen 
whether it is to be folded up or down. 

Before the furniture is folded it should be painted. 
Wood, iron, brass, and silk can all be imitated in color. 

In cutting out small spaces of cardboard — as between the 
bars of a chair — lay the card on a board, and keeping your 
knife, which should be sharp at the point, against a flat ruler, 
run it again and again along the lines you want to cut, until 
you have cut through. If your furniture is made of paper, the 
spaces can be cut out with finely pointed scissors, taking care 
to start in the middle of the space, for the first incision is sel- 
dom a clean one. 



246 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



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Kitchen Table 
(Cut out the oblong parts marked AA.) 



DOLLS' HOUSES 



247 



D D 



B 







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<c 




w*^^- 


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1 -H 






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Kitchen Eange and Kitchen Chair 
(A is turned tip to form a shelf for saucepans ; B is glued down over the back.) , 



248 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^? 

^ -R 




Screen 
(To be made of one piece of paper folded into three equal parts and cut out 
in accordance with the illustration. ) 





^-:/ 







Various Pots and Pans 
(Under part to be folded back for a stand.) 



i 



DOLLS' HOUSES 249 





Dining- Room Table and Cloth 



250 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 




gipEBOABD 



DOLLS' HOUSES 



251 







ri 



Sofa and Abm-€hair 
(The corners must be fastened to the sheet by very narrow strips of paper.) 



252 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 





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"WQQPEN Peps:?^ap 



DOLLS' HOUSES 




"Wardrobe 
(Join the sides AB and AB, and then Tbeo4 ^^^ top down, glueing the flap 



254 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



-ocr*^ 



■ 



Dressing Table 



DOLLS' HOUSES 



255 




WA8HSTAND 



256 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 




Bocking-Chaie, Towel Back, and Chaii% 



DOLLS' HOUSES 



257 




Child's High Chair and Cot 
(In the chair the lines AB and BA must be cut. In the cot the four pieces 
marked A are cut out on their sides and bent down to form legs.) 



258 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

Paper Dolls 
Paper dolls are not as good to play with as proper dolls. 
One can do much less with them because they cannot be 
washed, have no hair to be brushed, and should not sit down. 
But they can be exceedingly pretty, and the keeping of their 
wardrobes in touch with the fashion is an absorbing occupa- 
tion. Paper dolls are more interesting to those who like paint- 
ing than to others. The pleasure of coloring them and their 
dresses is to many of us quite as interesting as cutting out and 
sewing the clothes of ordinary dolls. 

Making Paper Dolls 
The first thing to do is to draw the doll in pencil on the 
cardboard or paper which it is to be cut from. If you are not 
good at drawing, the best way is to trace a figure in a book or 
newspaper, and then, slipping a piece of carbon-paper (which 
can be bought for a penny or less at any stationer's) between 
your tracing-paper and the cardboard, to go over the outline 
again with a pencil or a pointed stick. On uncovering the 
cardboard you will find the doll there all ready to cut out. 
It should then be colored on both sides, partly flesh color and 
partly underclothes. 

The Dresses 
The dresses are made of sheets of note-paper, the fold of 
which forms the shoulder pieces. The doll is laid on the 
paper, with head and neck lapping over the fold, and the line 
of the dress is then drawn a little larger than the doll. A 
small round nick to form the collar is cut between the shoul- 
ders of the dress, and a slit is made down the back through 
which the doll's head can be passed. After the head is through 
it is turned round. (Of course, if the dress is for evening the 
place which you cut for the neck must be larger, and in this 
case no slit will be needed.) All the details of the dresses. 



DOLLS' HOUSES 



259 



which can be of original design, or copied from advertisements 
and fashion plates, must be drawn in in pencil and afterward 
painted. Hats, trimmed with tissue-paper feathers or ribbons, 
are made of round pieces of note-paper with a slit in them just 
big enough for the tip of the doll's head to go through. The 
illustrations on pp. 260 and 261 should make everything clear. 

Other Paper Dolls 
Simpler and absolutely symmetrical paper dolls are made 
by cutting them out of folded paper, so that the fold runs 
right down the middle of the doll. By folding many pieces 
of paper together, one can cut out many dolls at once. 

Walking Dolls 
"Walking ladies are made in that way; but they must 
have long skirts and no feet, and when finished a cut is made 




Walking Paper Dolls 

in the skirt — as in the picture — and the framework thus pro- 
duced is bent back. When the doll is placed on the table and 
gently blown it will move gracefully along. 



26o WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 




Papek Mother and Child, with Clothes foe Each 



DOLLS' HOUSES 



261 




A Papee Giel with Six Chakges 



262 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

Tissue-Paper Dresses 
Dresses can also be made of crinkly tissue-paper glued 
to a foundation of plain note-paper. Frills, flounces, and 
sashes are easily imitated in this material, and if the colors are 
well chosen the result is very pretty. 

Rows of Paper Dolls 

To make a row of paper dolls, take a piece of paper the 
height that the dolls are to be, and fold it alternately back- 
ward and forward (first one side and then the other) leaving 
about an inch between each fold. Press the folds together 
tightly and cut out the half of a doll, being careful that the 
arms are continued to the edge of the fold and are not cut off. 
Open out and you will have a string of paper dolls. 

Other articles to be made from paper and cardboard will 
be found on pp. 284-291. 



PLAYHOUSES OF OTHER PEOPLES 



i 



I 




Playhouses of Other Peoples 

A Dutch House (Facing jxige 26 J^) 



PLAYHOUSES OF OTHER PEOPLES 

IT is not in the least necessary to confine yourself to mak- 
ing playhouses that are like the houses you live in or see 
about you, for with a little ingenuity you can construct 
bits of all sorts of strange countries right in your play-room. 
In one of the schools in New York City the children study 
geography and history of certain kinds by making with their 
own hands scenes from the places about which they study. 

One of the most valuable materials for making these play- 
houses is ordinary modeling clay. You can buy fifty pounds 
for from fifty cents to a dollar, and with this you are equipped 
to make almost anything you can see in pictures. Put the 
cla}'' (if bought dry) into a jar, pour over it clear water, and 
stir it up with a stick until perfectly smooth and about the 
consistency of hard butter. The first thing to do is to make a 
supply of bricks for building. This should be shaped like real 
bricks and about two inches long. Smaller ones are also pos- 
sible if you wish to have your settlement on a very small 
scale. These should be made as regularly as possible and as 
nearly of the same size. After a little practice one becomes 
very expert in this simple art. They should then be dried in 
the sun and are ready to use, though they must be handled 
carefully. If you can obtain terra-cotta clay, and have it 
baked hard you will have real bricks that will outlast your 
play-time. 

A Pueblo Settlement 
Suppose now that you have been reading about the life 
of the Pueblo Indians in our Southwest, and you have a pic- 
ture of one of their singular settlements. The accompanying 

265 



266 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

picture shows what was done in the way of constructing such 
a settlement by a class of school children, none of whom were 
over eight years old. You can model little clay Indian in- 
habitants and paint them as you please, to represent their 
brown skins and bright-colored clothes. If you can have a 
box with a little earth in it to set before your Pueblo village 
you can sow w^heat seed, or mustard, and model Indians 
working in the fields with their crude plows. Anything of 
which you can find a picture can be reproduced. Indian vil- 
lages and camps are easy to make and interesting. And 
once you are started on Indian life it may be fun to make 
yourselves Indian costumes. The costumes in the picture 
shown were made by the boys who wear them. By looking 
closely at them you can copy them. 

An Esquimau Village 
Another class in the same school painted their bricks 
white to represent blocks of snow and made an Esquimau 
village. This is fascinating and easy to do. Or, the rounded 
huts can be modeled all in one piece directly from the clay. 
Any book describing the life of dwellers in the Arctic region 
will tell you how they make their houses and you can make 
tiny imitations of them that will be infinite fun to construct 
and the admiration of all your friends when finished. Cotton- 
wool can be used for snow (powdered isinglass also is pretty), 
and bits of broken mirror for ice-ponds. Little sleds can be 
made on which to put your Esquimau hunter, who may be 
one of the white-fur-clad dolls so cheaply bought in toy-stores. 
Or you can model a little doll just the right size to be enter- 
ing the door of your tiny rounded white hut. 

A Filipino Village 
Or if you get tired of living near the Arctic circle you 
can sweep your table clean of Esquimau dwellings and con- 




An Esquimau Sled 




Indian Costumes {Facing page 266) 



PLAYHOUSES OF OTHER PEOPLES 267 

struct a Filipino village. For these you do not need bricks 
(which can be given a rest and put away in a box) but little 
splints of wood the same size and length which you can make 
yourself with a knife. Make a little thin floor of damp clay 
(but drier than you use it to model with) and stick your 
upright pieces in this in the shape of the house you wish to 
make. When the clay has hardened they are held quite firm 
and you can make a wattled hut by w^eaving long straws or 
grasses in and out to form your walls. A thatched roof can 
also be made of long grasses, tied in little bunches and laid 
close together all sloping down from the ridge-pole. Almost 
every magazine of a few years back has in it pictures of 
Filipino villages which will furnish you with models to copy. 
According to the size of the table or board on which you 
make your settlements you can have more or less extensive 
tropical country, surrounding your village. Mountains can 
be made of the clay, covered with moss or grasses to represent 
the jungle and a river with overhanging trees arranged with 
bits of broken looking-glass, and twigs with tiny scraps of 
green tissue paper glued to them for leaves. The exercise of 
your own ingenuity in using all sorts of unlikely materials 
which you will find all about you is the best part of this 
game. 

After you have decided to change the climate and char- 
acter of your village, the clay used may be broken up and put 
back in your jar, wet again, stirred smooth and is all ready to 
begin again. Great care should be taken that it is kept clean, 
that bits of wood or glass be not left in it, or you may cut or 
prick your fingers in handling it. 

A Dutch Street 
You cannot only w^ander from one climate and from one 
nationality to another, but from one century to another. If 



268 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

you are studying early American history nothing is more fun 
than to make a street in an old Dutch settlement. Your 
bricks are painted red for this. Almost any history-book will 
have pictures of one or two old Dutch houses which will show 
you the general look of them. They are harder to construct 
than the ruder huts of savages and may need to be held to- 
gether with a little use of damp clay. It is interesting to try 
and reconstruct old Dutch Manhattan, from the maps and 
pictures, showing the bay and the walk on the Battery. 

Or if you are interested in Colonial New England, make 
a settlement of log-houses with the upper story overhanging 
the first. On any walk you can pick up enough small sticks 
to use as logs after trimming and measuring. 

Other possibilities in this line are suggested below. You 
will have more fun in working them out yourself than if you 
are told just how to proceed. A Koman arena with gladi- 
ators fighting and a curtain which may be drawn to keep off 
the sun. A little fishing-village beside the sea (a large pan of 
water) with tiny nets spread out to dry and little walnut shell 
boats drawn up on the sandy beach. 

A farmhouse, barn, pig-pen, dog-kennel, carriage-house 
and the like. A very pretty settlement can be made of this 
with fields of growing grain, brooks, water-wheels, etc. 

All the animals of a farm can be modeled and painted. 
When they are skilfully made they are very pretty and add 
much to the picture and when they are done unskilfully it is 
fun to have people guess what they were meant for. How- 
ever, with a little practice very presentable animals can be 
modeled. It is easier to make them in clay than to draw 
them. 

A gypsy camp, with tents and open fires (bits of yellow 
and red tissue-paper), under a black kettle (made of clay and 
painted) swung on a forked stick, can easily be made. 



PLAYHOUSES OF OTHER PEOPLES 269 

Of course with tin or lead soldiers the number of games 
one can invent with these tiny settlements is innumerable. 
One favorite with some children is the attack and capture of 
the Filipino village by American troops. Sometimes it is 
burned, and this is always a stirring spectacle. Indeed with 
tin soldiers (which are just now unjustly out of favor) one's 
range of subjects is unlimited, and one always has plenty of in- 
habitants for any settlement. An army post can be made, 
with a fort and barracks and a wide green parade ground 
with the regiment drawn up in line for dress-parade. A tiny 
American flag flutters from the flag-pole and after the sunset 
gun booms (a fire-cracker exploded or only some one striking 
a blow on a tin pan) it can be lowered to the ground while 
the best whistler of the company executes " The Star-Spangled 
Banner." 



i 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS AND THINGS 
TO MAKE 



I 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS AND THINGS 
TO MAKE 

Painting 

PA.INTING is an occupation which is within almost 
everybody's power, and of which one tires very slowly 
or perhaps not at all. By painting we mean coloring 
old pictures rather than making new ones, since making new 
ones — from nature or imagination — require separate gifts. 
On a wet afternoon — or, if it is permitted, on Sunday after, 
noon — coloring the pictures in a scrapbook is a very pleasant 
and useful employment. After dark, painting is not a very 
wise occupation, because, in an artificial light, colors cannot 
be properly distinguished. 

All shops that sell artists' materials keep painting-books. 
But old illustrated papers do very well. 

Flags 
An even more interesting thing to do with a paint-box is 
to make a collection of the flags of all nations. And when 
those are all done, — you will find colored pages of them in 
any large dictionary, and elsewhere too, — you might get pos- 
session of an old shipping guide, and copy Lloyd's signal code 
from it. 

Maps 
Coloring maps is interesting, but is more difficult than 
you might perhaps think, owing to the skill required in laying 
an even surface of paint on an irregular space. The middle 
of the country does not cause much trouble, but when it 
comes to the jagged frontier line the brush has to be very 

273 



274 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

carefully handled. To wet the whole map with a wet brush 
at the outset is a help. Perhaps before starting in earnest on 
a map it would be best to practice a little with irregular- 
shaped spaces on another piece of paper. 

Magic-Lantern Slides 

If you have a magic lantern in the house you can paint 
some home-made slides. The colors should be as gay as pos- 
sible. The best home-made slides are those which illustrate a 
home-made story ; and the fact that you cannot draw or paint 
really well should not discourage you at all. A simpler way 
of making slides is to hold the glass over a candle until one 
side is covered with lamp black and then with a sharp stick to 
draw outline pictures on it. 

Another way is to cut out silhouettes in black paper, or 
colored tracing-paper, and stick them to the glass. In copy- 
ing a picture on a slide put the glass over the picture and 
draw the outline with a fine brush dipped in Indian ink. 
Then paint. All painting on slides should be covered with 
fixing varnish, or it will rub off. 

Illuminating 
As a change from painting there is illuminating, for 
which smaller brushes and gold and silver paint are needed. Il- 
luminating texts is a favorite Sunday afternoon employ- 
ment. 

Pen and Ink Work 
There is also pen and ink drawing, mistakenly called 
"etching," for which you require a tiny pen, known as a 
mapping pen, and a cake of Indian ink. If the library con- 
tains a volume of old wood-cuts, particularly Bewick^s Birds 
or Bewick's Quadrupeds, you will have no lack of pictures 
to copy. 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 275 

Chalks 
In place of paints a box of chalks will serve very well. 

Tracing 
Smaller children, who have not yet learned to paint 
properly, often like to trace pictures either on tracing paper 
held over the picture, or on ordinary thin paper held over the 
picture against the window pane. 

Pricking Pictures 
Pictures can also be pricked with a pin, but in this case 
some one must draw it first. You follow the outline with 
little pin pricks close together, holding the paper on a cushion 
while you prick it. Then the picture is held up to the 
window for the light to shine through the holes. 

Easter Eggs 
Home-made Easter eggs are made by painting pictures or 
messages on eggs that have been hard-boiled, or by merely 
boiling them in water containing cochineal or some other 
coloring material. In Germany it is the custom for Easter 
eggs to be hidden about in the house and garden, and for the 
family to hunt for them before breakfast — a plan that might 
very well be taken up by us. 

Spatter-Work 
Paper and cardboard articles can be prettily decorated 
by spatter-work. Ferns are the favorite shapes to use. You 
first pin them on whatever it is that is to be ornamented in this 
way, arranging them as prettily as possible. Then rub some 
Indian ink in water on a saucer until it is quite thick. Dip an 
old tooth-brush lightly into the ink, and, holding it over the 
cardboard, rub the bristles gently across a fine tooth comb. 
This will send a spray of ink over the cardboard. Do this 



276 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

again and again until the tone is deep enough, and try also to 
graduate it. It must be remembered that the ink when dry 
is much darker than when wet. Then remove the ferns, when 
under each there will be a white space exactly reproducing 
their beautiful shape. If you like you can paint in their veins 
and shade them ; but this is not really necessary. Colored 
paints can be used instead of Indian ink. 

Scrapbooks 

Making scrapbooks is always a pleasant and useful em- 
ployment, whether for yourself or for children in hospit- 
als or districts, and there was never so good an opportunity 
as now of getting interesting pictures. These you select from 
odd numbers of magazines, Christmas numbers, illustrated 
papers, and advertisements. Scraps are very useful to fill up 
odd corners. In choosing pictures for your own scrapbook it is 
better to select only those that you really believe in and can 
find a reason for using, than to take everything that seems 
likely to fit. By choosing the pictures with this care you 
make the work more interesting and the book peculiarly your 
own. But in making a scrapbook as a present for some one 
that you know, you will, of course, in choosing pictures, try 
to put yourself in his place and choose as you think that he 
would. 

Empty scrapbooks can be bought ; or you can make one 
by taking (for a large one) an old business ledger, which some 
one whom you know is certain to be able to give you, or (for 
a small one) an ordinary old exercise-book, and then cutting 
out every other page about half an inch from the stitching. 
This is to allow room for the extra thickness which the 
pictures will give to the book. Or you can sew sheets of 
brown paper together. 

For sticking on the pictures, use paste rather than gum ; 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 277 

and when it is done, press the book under quite a light 
weight, with sheets of paper between the pages. 

Scrapbooks for Hospitals 
Children that are ill are often too weak to hold up a large 
book and turn over the leaves. There are two ways of saving 
them this exertion and yet giving them pleasure from 
pictures. One is to get several large sheets of cardboard and 
cover them with pictures and scraps on both sides, and bind 
them round with ribbon. These can be enclosed in a box and 
sent to the matron. She will distribute the cards among the 
children, and when they have looked at each thoroughly they 
can exchange it for another. Another way is to use folding 
books which are more easy to hold than ordinary turning-over 
ones, and you can make them at home very simply by covering 
half a dozen or more cards of the same size (post-cards make 
capital little books) with red linen, and then sewing them edge 
to edge so as to get them all in a row. In covering the cards 
with the linen — red is not compulsory, but it is a good color 
to choose — it is better to paste it on as well as to sew it 
round the three edges (a fold will come on one side), because 
then when you stick on the pictures they will not cockle up. 
Pictures for hospital scrapbooks should be bright and gay. 
Colored ones are best, but if you cannot get them already 
colored you can paint them. Painting a scrapbook is one of 
the best of employments. 

Composite Scrapbooks 
Sometimes it happens that you get very tired of one of 
the pictures in your scrapbook. A good way to make it fresh 
and interesting again is to introduce new people or things. 
You will easily find among your store of loose pictures a 
horse and cart, or a dog, or a man, or a giraffe, which, when 



278 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

cut out, will fit in amusingly somewhere in the old picture, j 
If you like, a whole book can be altered reasonably in this | 
way, or made ridiculous throughout. 

Scrap-Covered Screens 
A screen is an even more interesting thing to make than 
a scrapbook. The first thing to get is the framework of the 
screen, which will either be an old one the covering of which ^ 
needs renewing, or a new one made by the carpenter. The 
next thing is to cover it with canvas, which you must stretch 
on tightly and fasten with small tacks ; and over this should 
be pasted another covering of stout paper, of whatever 
color you want for a background to the pictures. Paste 
mixed with size should be used in sticking it. After the pic- 
tures are all arranged they should be stuck with the same 
material, and a coat of paper varnish given to the whole, so 
that it can be cleaned occasionally. 

Collecting Stamps | 

Stamp-collecting is more interesting if money is kept out ' 
of it and you get your stamps by gift or exchange. The best ; 
way to begin is to know some one who has plenty of foreign 
correspondence and to ask for all his old envelopes. Nothing 
but time and patience can make a good collection. To buy it, 
is to have little of the collector's joy. « 

Postage-Stamp Snakes 
Old American stamps can be used for making snakes. 
There is no need to soak the stamps off the envelope paper : 
they must merely be cut out cleanly and threaded together. 
A big snake takes about 4,000 stamps. The head is made of 
black velvet stuffed with cotton wool, and beads serve for 
eyes. A tongue of red flannel can be added. 

? 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 279 

Puzzles 
If you have a fret saw, and can use it cleverly, you can 
make at home as good a puzzle as any that can be bought. 
The first thing to do is to select a good colored picture, and 
then to procure from a carpenter a thin mahogany board of 
the same size. Mahogany is not absolutely necessary, but it 
must be some wood that is both soft and tough. Deal, for in- 
stance, is useless because it is not tough, and oak is useless be- 
cause it is not soft. On this wood you stick the picture very 
firmly, using weak glue in preference to paste or gum. 
When it is quite dry you cut it up into the most difficult frag- 
ments that you can. It is best to cut out the border so that 
each piece locks into the next. This will then be put together 
first by the player and will serve to hold the picture together. 
"X^f ter the puzzle is cut up it is well to varnish each piece with 
paper varnish, which keeps it clean and preserves it. 

A simple puzzle can be made by pasting the picture on 
cardboard and cutting it up with scissors or a sharp knife. 

Soap Bubbles 
For blowing bubbles the long clay pipes are best. Before 
using them, the end of the mouthpiece ought to be covered 
with sealing-wax for about an inch, or it may tear your lips. 
Common yellow soap is better than scented soap, and rain- 
water than ordinary water. A little glycerine added to the 
soap-suds helps to make the bubbles more lasting. On a still 
summer day, bubble-blowing out-of-doors is a fascinating and 
very pretty occupation. 

Shadows on the Wall 
Shadowgraphy nowadays has progressed a long way from 
the rabbit on the wall ; but in the house, ambition in this ac- 
complishment does not often extend further than that and qn% 



28o 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 



or two other animals, and this is why only the rabbit, dog, 
and swan are given here. The swan can be made more inter- 
esting by moving the arm which forms his neck as if he were 




Shadows on the Wall 

prinking and pluming, an effect which is much heightened by 
ruffling up and smoothing down the hair with the fingers form- 
ing his beak. To get a clear shadow it is necessary to have 
only one light, and that fairly close to the hands. 

Skeleton Leaves 
Leaves which are to be skeletonized should be picked from 
the trees at the end of June. They should be perfect ones of 
full growth. It is best to have several of each kind, as some 
are sure to be failures. Put the leaves in a big earthenware 
^i^h or pan, IBU |^ with yain-w^ter, m<\ ^teipd it ixi ^ w^m ^ud 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 281 

sunny place — the purpose of this being to soak off the green 
pulpy part. There is a great difference in the time which this 
takes : some fine leaves will be ready in a week, while others 
may need several months. Look at the leaves every day, and 
when one seems to be ready slip a piece of cardboard under it 
and shake it about gently in fresh cold water. If any green 
stuff remains, dab it with a soft brush and then put it into an- 
other basin of clean water. A fine needle can be used to take 
away any small and obstinate pieces of green. It is now a 
skeleton and must be bleached according to the following di- 
rections : — Pour into a large earthenware jar a pint of water 
on half a pound of chloride of lime. Mix thoroughly, break- 
ing up any lumps with the hand. Add two and a half quarts 
of water, cover over, and leave for twenty-four hours. Then 
pour off the solution, leaving the sediment behind. Dissolve 
two pounds of soda in one quart of boiling water, and pour it, 
while on the boil, over the chloride solution. Cover it, and 
leave for forty-eight hours ; then decant into bottles, being 
careful to leave all sediment behind. 

Fill an earthenware dish with this solution, lay the leaves 
in it, and cover tightly. The leaves will be bleached in six to 
twelve hours. They should be taken out directly they are 
white, as the lime makes them very brittle. After bleaching, 
rinse the leaves in cold water, float them on to cards, and dry 
between blotting-paper, under a heavy weight. 

Ferns 
It should be noted that if you intend to skeletonize ferns, 
they should not be picked before August, and they must be 
pressed and dried before they are put into the bleaching solution, 
in which they ought to stay for three or four days. The solution 
should be changed on the second day, and again on the fourth. 
After bleaching they can be treated just as the leaves are. 



282 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^? 

Wool Balls 
Cut out two rings of cardboard, of whatever size you like, 
from one inch in diameter up to about four inches. A four- 
inch ring would make as large a ball as one usually needs, and 
a one-inch ring as small a one as could be conveniently made. 
The rim of the largest rings should not be wider than half an 
inch. Take a ball of wool and, placing the cardboard rings 
together, tie the end of it firmly round them. Then wind the 
wool over the rings, moving them round and round to keep it 
even. At first you will be able to push the ball through the 
rings easily, but as the wool is wound the hole will grow 
smaller and smaller, untilyou have to thread the wool through 
with a needle. To do this it is necessary to cut the wool into 
lengths, which you must be careful to join securely. Go on 
until the hole is completely filled and you cannot squeeze 
another needle through. Then slip a pair of scissors between 
the two rings and cut the wool all round them ; and follow 
this up quickly by slipping a piece of string also between them 
and tying it tightly round the wool that is in their midst. 
This is to keep the loose ends, w^hich were made directly you 
cut the wool with the scissors, from coming out. All that is 
now necessary is to pull out the cardboard rings and shape the 
ball a little in your hands. The tighter the wool was bound 
round the cards, the smaller and harder the ball will be and 
the more difficult will it be to cut the wool neatly and tie it. 
Therefore, and especially as the whole purpose of a wool ball 
is softness and harmlessness, it is better to wind the wool 
loosely and to use thick wool rather than thin. 

Wool Demons 
To make a " Wool Demon," take a piece of cardboard as 
wide as you want the demon to be tall, say three inches, and 
wind very evenly over it wool of the color you want the 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 283 

demon to be. Scarlet wool is perhaps best. Wind it about 
eighty times, and then remove carefully and tie a piece round 
about half an inch from the top to make the neck. This also 
secures the wool, the lower looped ends of which can now be 
cut. When cut, gather up about twenty pieces each side for 
the arms, and, holding them firmly, bind them round with 
other wool, and cut off neatly at the proper length. Then tie 
more wool round to form the body. The legs and tail are 
made in the same way as the arms, except that wool is \vound 
round the legs, beginning from the feet and working upward, 
only to the knees, leaving a suggestion of knickerbockers. 
Eyes and other features can be sewn on in silk. 



Bead-Work 
Among other occupations which are not in need of careful 
description, but which ought to be mentioned, bead-work is 
important. It was once more popular than it now is ; but 
beads in many beautiful colors are still made, and it is a pity 
that their advantages should be neglected. Bead- work lasts 
longer and is cleaner and brighter than any other form of 
embroidery. Perhaps the favorite use to which beads are now 
put is in the making of napkin-rings. Bead-flowers are made 
by threading beads on wire and bending them to the required 
shapes. Boxes of materials are sold in toj^-shops. 

Post-Office 
" Post-Office " is a device for providing the family with a 
sure supply of letters. The first thing to do is to appoint a 
postmaster and fix upon the positions for the letter-boxes. 
You then write letters to each other and to any one in the 
house, and post them where you like ; and at regular times 
the postmaster collects them and delivers them. 



284 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



The Home Newspaper 
In " The Home ISTevvspaper," the first thing to do is to 
decide on which of you will edit it. As the editor usually has 
to copy all the contributions into the exercise-book, it is well 
that a good writer should be chosen. Then you want a good 
title. It is better if the contributors are given each a depart- 
ment, because that will make the work more simple. Each 
number should have a story and some poetry. Hpme news- 
papers, as a rule, come out once a month. Once a week is too 
often to keep up. There is a good description of one in a 
book by E. Nesbit, called The Treasure- Seekers. 

Paper and Cardboard Toys — A Cocked Hat 
To make a cocked bat, take a sheet of stiff paper and 
double it. Then fold over each of the doubled corners until 




Fig. 1 

they meet in the middle. The paper will then resemble Fig. 1 
Then fold AB AB over the doubled corners ; fold the corres. 
ponding strip of paper at the back to balance it, and the 
cocked hat is ready to be worn. If it is to be used in charades, 
it is well to pin it here and there to make it secure. 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 285 

Paper Boats 
If the cocked hat is held in the middle of each side and 
pulled out into a square, and the two sides are then bent back 




Fig. 2 



to make another cocked hat (but of course much smaller) ; and 
then, if this cocked hat is also pulled out into a square, it will 




Fig 3. 



look like Fig. 2. If the sides A and A are held between the 
finger and thumb and pulled out, a paper boat will be the 
result, as in Fig. 3. 



286 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



Paper Darts 

Take a sheet of stiffish paper about the size of this page 

and fold it longways, exactly double. Then fold the corners 

of one end back to the main fold, one each side. The paper 

sideways will then look as in Fig. 1. Then double these 




folded points, one each side, back to the main fold. The paper 
will then look as in Fig. 2. Eepeat this process once more. 
The paper will then look as in Fig. 3. Compress the folds 
very tightly, and open out the top ones, so that in looking 
down on the dart it will have the appearance of Fig. 4. The 
dart is then ready for use. 



Paper Mats 
Take a square piece of thin paper (Fig. 1), white or 
colored. Fold it in half (Fig. 2), and then again in half 




rv<i.5 



pi^. a. 




Paper Mats 
(Fig. 3), and then again from the centre to the outside corner, 
when it will be shaped as in Fig. 4. If you w^ant a round 
mat, cut it as marked by the dotted line in Fig. 4; if square, 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 



287 



leave it as it is. Remember that when you cut folded paper 
the cuts are repeated in the whole piece as many times as 
tiiere are folds in the paper. The purpose of folding is to 
make the cuts symmetrical. Bearing this in mind cut Fig. 4 
as much as you like, as suggested by Fig. 5. Perhaps it 
would be well to practice first of all on a rough piece. The 
more delicate the cuts the prettier will be the completed mat. 



Paper Boxes 

Take an exactly square piece of paper (cream-laid note- 
paper is best in texture), and fold it across to each corner and 
press down the folds. Unfold it and then fold each corner 
exactly into the middle, and press down and unfold again. 
The lines of fold on the paper will now be seen to run from 
corner to corner, crossing in the middle, and also forming a 




^»qoa4 i 



Paper Boxes 



square pattern. The next thing is to fold over each corner 
exactly to the line of this square on the opposite half of the 
paper. When this is done, and the paper is again straight- 
ened out, the lines of fold will be as in Fig. 1. Cut out the 
triangles marked X in Fig. 1, and the paper will be as in 



288 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

Fig. 2. Then cut along all the dotted lines in Fig. 2, and 
stand the opposite corners up to form the sides and lid of 
the box : first A and B, which are fastened by folding back 
the little flaps at the tip of A, slipping through the slit at the 
tip of B, and then unfolding them, again ; and then C and D, 
which are secured in the same way. 

Cardboard Boxes 
Cardboard boxes, of a more useful nature than paper 
boxes, are made on the same principle as the house described 
on p. 239, and the furniture to go in it, as described later in 
the same chapter. The whole box can be cut in the flat, out 
of one piece of cardboard, and the sides afterward bent up 
and the lid down. Measurements must of course be exact. 
The prettiest way to join the sides is to use thin silk instead 
of paper, and the lid may be made to fasten by a little bow 
of the same material. 

Scraps and Transfers 

Paper boxes, when finished, can be made more attractive 
by painting on them, gluing scraps to them, putting trans- 
fers here and there, or covering them with spatter-work 
(see p. 275). Scraps can be bought at most stationers' in a 
very great variety. Transfers, which are taken off by 
moistening in water, pressing on the paper with the slithery 
clouded surface downward, and being gently slipped along, 
used to be more common than they now are. 

Directions how to make many other paper things will be 
found on pp. 243-262. 

Ink Sea- Serpents 
Dissolve a teaspoonful of salt in a glass of water, dip a 
pen in ink and touch the point to the water. The ink de- 
scends in strange serpent-like coils. 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 



289 



A Dancing Man 
The accompanying picture will show how a dancing 
man is made to dance. You hold him between the finger 




A Dancing Man 

and thumb, one on each side of his waist, and pull the string. 
The hinges for the arms and legs, which are made of card- 
board, can be made of bent pins or little pieces of string 
knotted on each side. 

Velvet Animals 
The fashioning of people and animals from scraps of 
velvet glued on cardboard was a pleasant occupation which 
interested our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers 
when they were children many years ago. A favorite picture 
was of a boy and a St. Bernard, in which the boy's head, 
hands, collar, and pantaloons, and the dog, were made of white 
velvet painted, The boy's tqnic was black velvet, and its belt a 



290 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



strip of red paper. The dog's eye was a black pin-head. The 
whole was mounted on a wooden stand with wooden supports 
at the back, one running up to the boy's head and the other 
to the tip of the dog's tail. With some scraps of white and 
black velvet, and a little patience and ingenuity, one could 
make all the animals on a farm and many in the Zoo. 

Hand Dragons 

All the apparatus needed for a " Hand Dragon " consists 

of a little cardboard thimble or finger-stall, on which the 

features of a dragon have been drawn in pen and ink or color. 

This is then slipped over the top of the middle finger, so that 




Hand Dkagons 

the hand becomes its body and the other fingers and thumb 
its legs. With the exercise of very little ingenuity in the 
movement of the fingers, the dragon can be made to seem 
very much alive. The accompanying picture should explain 
everything. 

Various games can be played with the fingers. Tiny 
caps and hats can be made, features drawn with ink on the 
fingers and little tissue paper dresses made. A whole play 
can be acted or sung by these tiny finger marionettes. 

Other Uses for Cardboard 
Once you have begun to make things out of cardboard, 
you will find no end to its possibilities and should be in no 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 291 

more need of any hints. After building, furnishing, and 
peopling a dolls' house, a farm or a menagerie would be an 
interesting enterprise to start upon. E. M. E. has a stud of 
ninety-two horses, each named, and each provided with a 
horse-cloth, a groom, and harness. She has also several 
regiments of soldiers and a staff of nurses, all cut from card- 
board and painted. She chooses her horses from Country Life, 
or some such paper, and copies them. Another enthusiast has 
a cardboard theatre in which plays and pantomimes are per- 
formed. 

It might be added that cardboard figures can be made to 
stand up either by leaving a strip of cardboard at the bottom, 
in which teeth can be cut and bent alternately one way or 
the other, or by slipping the feet into grooves cut in little 
blocks of wood. 

Cardboard Cut-Outs 

There are a great many cut-outs issued nowadays, which 
may be bought for a small sum at any toy shop. Perhaps 
the best among these are " The Mirthful Menagerie," *' The 
Agile Acrobats " and '' The Magic Changelings." " The 
Mirthful Menagerie " when properly cut out and pasted to- 
gether, make a lot of animals that have thichness as well as 
length and height ; " The Agile Acrobats " can be made to 
assume almost any position, and in " The Magic Changelings," 
Little Eed Kiding Hood, for instance, can be changed into 
the wolf, and then back again ! 

Books of cut-outs are also made, in which the books are 
intact after the cut-outs have been removed. " The New 
Mother Goose " gives illustrations of many of the Mother 
Goose rhymes to be cut out and pasted together, and has 
a story and other pictures besides. " The Electric Fire 
Fighters " is on the same order, only in this case the pictures 



292 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

to be put together are of the Electric Fire-Engine, the Electric 
Water-Tower, etc. They are all easily made, and are fascinat- 
ing games for stormy weather, or for indoor games at any 
time. 

Particulars of " Snap " cards and other home-made cards 
will be found on pp. 77 and 78. 

Kites 
In China, and to some extent in Holland, kite-flying is not 
the pastime only of boys, but of grave men. And certainly 
grave men might do many more foolish things. To feel a 
kite pulling at your hands, to let out string and see it climb 
higher and higher and higher into the sky — this is a real joy. 
For good kite-flying you want plenty of room and a steady 
wind ; hence a big field is the best place, unless you are at the 
seaside when there is a wind off the land, in which case you 
can fly your kite from the beach. To make an ordinary, 
serviceable kite, take two laths (which can be bought for a 
penny from any builder), one three feet long (A A in the pic- 
ture) and the other two feet (BB). Screw BB with two 
screws exactly in the middle, at right angles to AA, at C, a 
foot from the top. Then take some stout twine of good 
quality and make the outline of the kite by tying it securely 
to the ends of each of the laths. I^ext take the thinnest un- 
bleached calico you can find, stretch it fairly tightly, and sew 
it over the strings. (Or strong but light paper will do, pasted 
over the string.) Make a hole (D) through the upright lath 
and calico, midway between the cross-piece and the top, and 
another hole (E) about fifteen inches below the cross-piece, 
and tie a strong string, two and a half feet long, to these 
holes, with a loop (F) in it a foot from the top hole. To this 
loop you will tie the string of the kite. The tail (G) is made 
of pieces of paper about six inches long, rolled tightly and 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 



293 



tied at distances of a foot. Its exact length will depend on 
the strength of the wind and can be determined only by ex_ 
perience, but, roughly speaking, it should be five times the 
height of the kite, or, with the kite which we are making, 
fifteen feet long. It is best to have the tail in two or three 




A Kite 



pieces, and then it can be lengthened or shortened at will. 
For instance, if the kite plunges in the air and will not keep 
steady, the tail is not long enough ; but if it will go up only a 
little way, the tail is probably too long. Be sure to have 
plenty of string, carefully wound, so that there will be no 



294 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 




To FEEL A KITE PULLIXG AT YOUR HANDS— THIS IS REAL JOY " 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 295 

hitches in paying it out. When starting a kite you need the 
help of some one who will stand about thirty yards away, 
holding the kite against the wind, and throw it straight up 
when you have the line tight and give the signal. If it does 
not rise it may be well for you to run a few yards against the 
wind. At first you must not pay out line very rapidly, but 
when the kite is flying steadily you may give it, also steadily, 
all the string it wants. 

Kite Messengers 
A messenger is a piece of cardboard or paper with a 
good-sized hole in it, which you slip over the string when the 
kite is steady, and which is carried right up to the kite by the 
wind. 

^ A Simple Toy Boat 

The following directions, with exact measurements, apply 
to one of the simplest home-made sailing-boats. Take a piece 
of soft straight-grained pine, which any carpenter or builder 
will let you have, one foot long, four inches wide, and two 
inches deep. On the top of the four-inch side draw an out- 
line as in Fig. 1, in which you will be helped by first dividing 
the wood by the pencil line AB, exactly in the middle. Then 
turn the block over and divide the under four-inch side with 
a similar line, and placing the saw an eighth of an inch each 
side of this line, cut two incisions right along the Avood about 
a quarter of an inch deep. The portion between these two 
incisions forms the keel. Then carry the line up the middle 
of the end A, and repeat the incisions as along the bottom, 
these making the boat's stem-post, l^ext turn to the top 
again, and make a line, similar to the dotted line CO in Fig. 1, 
about three-eighths of an inch inside the outline of the boat, 
and then carefully hollow out with a gouge everything inside 
this dotted line. It must be very carefully done; it is better, 



296 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



indeed, to err on the side of not hollowing her out enough, 
and then a little more can be removed afterward. Next 
shape the outside, first with a saw and then with a chisel, 
again using the utmost care. Try to give her a fine bow, or 
" entr}^," and a good clean stern, or " run." If the boat were 
cut in two crossways in the middle, the section ought to re- 




A Toy Boat 
semble that in Fig. 2. This flat " floor " will be graduated 
away to nothing at bow and stern. Next fix on the lead keel 
(see K in Fig. 3), which should be a quarter of an inch thick, 
a quarter of an inch deep at the bow, and three-quarters at 
the stern, fastened on with four long thin screws. Next make 
the deck, which should not be more than an eighth of an inch 
thick and should fit very closely at the edges. 

The mast (C), which should be about three-eighths of an 
inch in diameter at the foot, and should taper slightly, must 
stand one foot above the deck, and pass through the deck four 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 



297 



and a half inches from the bow. First pass it through the 
hole in the deck and place it in position, leaning a little back 
from the bows ; then slip up the deck and mark the place in 
the bottom of the boat where the mast rests, and there fix, 
with four small brass screws, a block of wood with a hole in 
it, into which the mast can be firmly "stepped." Then on the 
upper side of the deck, just in front of the mast-hole, screw a 
small eyelet. This is to hold the line called the foresail sheet 
(L), but as the deck is only an eighth of an inch thick you 



(H> 



^ZP 



Fi«.a. 



F'tV4- 



A Toy Boat 

must place a little block of wood under the deck, into which 
the eyelet can be screwed. Directly this is done, the deck is 
ready to be screwed firmly to the boat with brass screws. If 
you are in any doubt as to its being water-tight, you had bet- 
ter bore a hole in it and put a cork in, so that you can tip it 
up and empty it after each voyage. 

The bowsprit (J), a quarter of an inch in diameter, should 
be three and a half inches long, two inches of which project 
beyond the bow. Screw it firmly to the boat. You have 
now to shape the boom (F) and gaff (D), which must have a 
fork at the end, as in Fig. 4, to embrace the mast, the ends of 
this fork being joined by string. The boom should be eight 
and a half inches long and three-eighths of an inch in diam- 



298 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

eter, and the gaff five inches long and a quarter of an inch in 
diameter. The gaff is kept in position, about three inches 
from the mast-head, by the throat halyards and peak halyards, 
to which we now come. The peak halyards (H), throat hal- 
yards (G), and foresail halyards (F) should be of very fine 
] fishing-line. After being tied respectively to the gaff and 
' foresail, they pass through small holes in the mast, down to 
eyelets screwed into the bulwarks on each side of the mast. 

The foresail sheet (L) and main sheet (M), which are some 
four inches long, are hitched to eyelets screwed into the deck 
amidships, one just in front of the mast, as already explained, 
and the other about two inches from the stern. The sails must 
be of thin calico, neatly hemmed round. Both sails should 
come to about three inches of the head of the mast. The 
foresail is fastened only to the tip of the bowsprit, the foresail 
halyards, and foresail sheet ; the mainsail to the gaff, all 
along, and to each end of the boom. 

J^othing has been said about a rudder, because a boat 
built and rigged in the manner described would balance her- 
self, and so keep on any course on which she was laid. With 
a very little wind she ought to cross and recross a pond with- 
out any hitch, all that will be necessary being to let the sails 
have plenty of play, by loosening the foresail sheet and main 
sheet, and to give her a steady push. 

Walnut Shell Boats 
To make a boat from a walnut shell, you scoop out the 
half shell and cut a piece of cardboard of a size to cover the 
top. Through the middle of this piece of cardboard you 
thrust a match, and then, dropping a little sealing-wax into 
the bottom of the shell, and putting some round the edge, you 
fix the match and the cardboard to it. A sail is made by 
cutting out a square of paper and fastening it to the match by 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 299 

means of two holes ; but the boat will swim much better 
without it. 

Walnut Fights 
Here it might be remarked that capital contests can be 
had with the empty halves of walnut shells. A plate is turned 
upside down, and the two fighters place their walnuts point to 
point in the middle. At the given word they begin to push, 
one against the other, by steady pressure of finger and thumb 
on the stern of the shell. The battle is over w^hen the prow 
of one shell crashes through the prow of the other. This 
always happens sooner or later, but sometimes the battles are 
long and severe. At the end of each contest the number of 
shells defeated by the victor should be marked on it, and it 
should be carefully kept for the next conflict. At school we 
used to have tremendous excitement when two champions 
met, a walnut with a record of 520, for instance, and another 
with 700. The winner in such a battle as this would, of 
course, be numbered 1,221, because you always add not only 
your defeated adversary to your score, but all his victims too. 

Suckers 
A sucker is a round piece of strong leather. Thread a 
piece of string through the middle, and knot the string at the 
end to prevent it being pulled through. Soak the sucker in 
water until it is soft, and then press it carefully over a big 
smooth stone, or anything else that is smooth, so that no air 
can get in. If you and the string are strong enough, the 
sucker will lift great weights. 

Skipjacks 
The wish-bone of a goose makes a good skipjack. It 
should be cleaned and left for a day or two before using. 
Then take a piece of strong thin string, double it, and tie it 



300 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

firmly to the two ends of the wish-bone, about an inch 
from the end on each side. Take a strip of wood a little 
shorter than the bone, and cut a notch round it about half an 
inch from one end. Then slip it half way between the double 




A Skipjack 

string, and twist the string round and round until the resist- 
ance becomes really strong. Then pull the stick through to 
the notch, into which the string will settle, and tie it at each 
side, so that it is not likely to slip either way. A little piece 
of cobblers' wax must be put on the bone on the other side to 
that where the stick naturally touches. Pull the stick right 
over to stick on the wax, and lay the skipjack, stick down- 
ward, on the ground. In a little while the wax will give way, 
and the wish-bone will spring high into the air. 

A Water-Cutter 
The cut- water is best made of tin or lead, but stout card- 
board or wood will serve the purpose. First cut the material 
into a round, and then make teeth in it like a saw. Thus : — 




A Watee-Cuttee 



Then bore two holes in it, as in the drawing, and thread 
strings through them, tying the strings at each end. Hold the 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 301 

strings firmly, and twist them a little. Then, by pulling at 
them to untwist them, the cut-water will be put in motion, 
first one way, while they are being untwisted, and then the 
other, while they twist up again. If held just over a basin 
of water, the notches will send spray a great distance, but you 
must be careful to dip them only when the cut-water is revolv- 
ing away from you, or you will be soaked. 



Whistles 
With a sharp knife a very good whistle can be made of 
hazel or willow, cut in the spring or early summer. A piece 
of wood about three inches long should be used. Kemember 
what an ordinary tin whistle is like, and cut the mouthpiece 
at a similar angle, and also cut a little nick out of the bark, in 
the place of the hole immediately beyond the mouthpiece in 
the metal instrument. Then cut all round the bark about an 
inch from the other end of the stick, hold the bark firmly 
with one hand clasped round it, and hold the inch at the 
opposite end firmly with the fingers of the other, and pull. The 
greater portion of bark should slide off quite easily. You will 
then have a tube of bark about two inches long, and a white 
stick about three inches long, with an inch of bark remaining 
on it. Cut from the mouthpiece end of this stick as much as 
exactly fits between the end and the little nick in the bark 
which you have already made. Shave the top until it is flat 
(just as in an ordinary whistle), and place it inside the bark 
again. Then cut off from the white part of the stick all but 
a quarter of an inch : fit this into the other end of the bark 
tube, and you ought to get a good shrill whistle. It will be 
better if you keep a pea inside. 



302 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

Christmas — Evergreen Decorations 
Getting ready for Christmas is almost as good as Christ- 
mas itself. The decorations can be either natural or artificial 
or a mixture of both. In using evergreens for ropes, it is best 
to have a foundation of real cord of the required length, and 
tie the pieces of shrub and ivy to it, either v^ith string or 
floral wire. This prevents any chance of its breaking. For 
a garland or any device of a definite shape, the foundation 
could be a stiffer wire, or laths of vrood. Ivy chains are 
described on page 135. 

Paper Decorations 

The simplest form of paper chain is made of colored 
tissue paper and glue. You merely cut strips the size of the 
links and join them one by one. 

For paper flowers, paper and tools are especially made. 
But for the purposes of home decoration ordinary tissue 
paper, wire, glue, and scissors will serve well enough. 

Mottoes 
Mottoes and good wishes can be lettered in cotton wool 
on a background of scarlet or other colored linen or lining 
paper. Scarlet is perhaps the most cheery. Or you can make 
more delicate letters by sewing holly berries on to a white 
background ; and small green letters can be made by sewing 
box leaves on a white background. For larger green letters 
and also for bordering, holly leaves and laurel leaves are good. 
Cotton-wool makes the best snow. 

Christmas Trees. 
In hanging things on the Christmas tree you have to be 
careful that nothing is placed immediately over a candle, nor 
should a branch of the tree itself be near enough to a candle 



i 



INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 303 

to catch fire. After all the things are taken off the tree there 
is no harm in its burning a little, because the smell of a burn- 
ing Christmas tree is one of the best smells there is. To put 
presents of any value on the tree is perhaps a mistake, partly 
because they run a chance of being injured by fire or grease, 
and partly because they are heavy. The best things of all are 
candles, as many as possible, and silver balls which reflect. 
On the top there should, of course, be either a Father Christ- 
mas, or a Christ child, as the Germans, who understand 
Christmas trees even better than we do, always have. For 
lighting the candles a long taper is useful, and for putting 
them out, an extinguisher tied to a stick. 

Bran- Tubs or Jack Horner Pies 
Bran-tubs or Jack Horner Pies are not so common as 
they used to be, but there is no better way of giving your 
guests presents at random. As many presents as there are 
children are wrapped up in paper and hidden in a tub filled 
with bran. This is placed on a dust-sheet, and the visitors 
dip their hands in and pull out each a parcel. The objection 
to the bran-tub is that boys sometimes draw out things more 
suitable for girls. This difficulty could be got over by having 
two tubs, one for girls and one for boys. Sometimes the rib- 
bon of each parcel is long and falls over the edge of the dish. 
The boys take one color ribbon, and the girls the other, and 
all pull at the same time. 

Philopenas 
Two games with nuts and cherries may as well go at the 
end of this section as anywhere else. Almonds sometimes 
contain double kernels. These are called Philopenas, and you 
must never waste them by eating both yourself, but find some 
one to share them with. There are several ways of playing. 



304 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

One is " Yes or ]^o," in which the one who first says either 
" yes " or " no '' must pay a forfeit to the other. Another is 
" Give and Take," in which the one that first takes something 
that the other hands him is the loser. Or whichever of you 
first says to the other " Good morning, Philopena," on the 
following day, or the next time you meet, wins a present. Or 
this is sometimes played that whoever first answers a question 
put to him by the other must pay a forfeit. Of course this 
makes great fun in trying to invent and evade plausible 
questions. 

Cherry Contests 
Cherry-eating races can be very exciting. The players 
stand in a row with their hands behind them, and a number 
of long-stalked cherries are chosen from the basket and placed 
by the tip of the stalk between their teeth. At the word of 
command the players begin their efforts to draw the cherry 
up by the stalk into their mouths. All heads must be held 
down. 



CANDY-MAKING 



CANDY-MAKING 

Utensils 

FOR making candy you will need an enamel or earthen- 
ware saucepan ; a long wooden spoon ; one or two old 
soup-plates or dishes ; a bowl, if there is any mixing to 
be done ; a cup of cold water for testing ; a silver knife ; and, 
if you are not cooking in the kitchen, a piece of oil-cloth or 
several thicknesses of brown paper to lay on the table. 

General Directions 

Butter the dish into which the candy is to be poured be- 
fore you begin to cook. To do this put a little piece of butter 
on a piece of clean soft paper and rub it all over the dish. 

Always stir round the edge as well as the middle of the 
saucepan. Stir slowly but continually, for candy burns very 
quickly if left alone. 

The flavoring should be added just before taking the 
saucepan off the fire. 

To find out if your taffy or candy has boiled long enough, 
drop a little in the cup of cold water. If it at once becomes 
crisp and hard, it is done. 

Before your candy is quite cold, mark it with a silver 
knife into squares. This will make it break up more easily 
and nesitly when cold. 

Barley Sugar 
1 lb. powdered sugar. ^ a pint of water. 

The white of an egg. ^ a lemon. 

Dissolve the sugar in the water, and add the well-beaten 
white of an egg (this must be done before the mixture is 
heated). Then put on the fire in a strong saucepan. Eemove 
all scum as it rises, and when the syrup begins to look clear, 

307 



3o8 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

take off the fire and strain through muslin. Put the syrup 
back into the saucepan and let it boil quickly until you find 
by testing it that it is done. Then add the juice of the lemon 
and pour on to a buttered dish. Before the mixture sets cut 
it into strips and twist. 

Chocolate Caramels 

1 tea-cup golden syrup, 2 oz. butter. 

1 tea-cup brown sugar. 4 oz. powdered chocolate. 

1 tea-cup milk. A pinch of salt. 

16 drops vanilla. 

Boil all together for half an hour, stirring continually. 

Cocoanut caramels are made in the same way, except 
that 1 oz. of grated or desiccated cocoanut is used instead of 
the chocolate. 

Cocoanut Cream 
IJ lb. granulated sugar. 4 oz. grated cocoanut. 

Melt the sugar with as little water as possible. Continue 
to let it boil gently until the syrup begins to return to sugar 
again. Directly this happens put in the cocoanut and mix 
thoroughly. Pour the mixture into a flat dish or tin. 

Cocoanut Cream (ayiother way) 
1 cocoanut, grated. ^ a cup of cocoanut-milk. 

1 lb. granulated sugar. 1 oz. butter. 

Put the sugar, cocoanut-milk, and butter into a saucepan. 
When they boil, add the cocoanut gradually. Boil for ten 
minutes, stirring all the time. Pour the mixture into a basin 
and beat till nearly cold, then turn out into a dish. 

Cocoanut Drops 

^ lb. cocoanut, grated. J lb. white sugar. 

The whites of 2 eggs, well beaten. 

Mix well together and bake in drops on buttered paper 
for fifteen minutes. 



CANDY-MAKING 309 

Cream Caramels 
1 tin Nestle's milk. 2 oz, buttei; 

1 lb. soft white sugar. Vanilla. 

Melt the sugar with a very little water, and when boil- 
ing add the butter and J^estle's milk. Stir continually, as the 
mixture burns very easily, for fifteen minutes. Try in water 
to see if it will set. Add the vanilla, pour into a dish, and 
beat until nearly cold. 

One ounce of cocoanut or 2 of grated chocolate can be 
used instead of vanilla to flavor the above. 

Fruit Creami 

1 cocoanut, grated. 

1^ lb. granulated sugar, moistened with a little cocoanut-milk. 

Put the sugar in a saucepan and let it heat slowly. Then 
boil rapidly five minutes ; add grated cocoanut, and boil ten 
minutes. Stir constantly. Put a little on a cold plate, and if 
it makes a firm paste, take from fire. Pour part of it into a 
large tin lined with greased paper ; and add to what remains 
in the saucepan, chopped blanched almonds, candied cherries, 
nuts, etc. Pour this over the other cream, and cut in bars. 

Pop-Corn 
The corn has to be '^ popped " over a clear fire in a little 
iron basket with a long handle. The corn is put in the basket 
and shaken continually, and in time each grain pops suddenly 
and becomes a little irregular white ball. These can be eaten 
with salt, or rolled in a sweet syrup (colored and flavored as 
you like it best) made of ^ lb. of white sugar boiled for ten 
minutes with a very little water. 

The Plainest Toffee 
3 oz. butter. 1 lb. brown sugar. 

Stir until done. 



310 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

Another Toffee 

1 lb. raw sugar. 2 small tablespoonfuls of syrup. 

J lb. butter. The juice of half a lemon. 

Half a teaspoonful of powdered ginger. 

Melt the butter in a saucepan, and then add the sugar, 
syrup, and ginger. Stir continually, adding a little lemon 
juice every now and then. Boil for ten minutes, and then 
test in cold water. 

Two ounces of blanched and split almonds can be added 
to the above. The almonds should either be mixed with the 
toifee just before taking it off the fire, or else a well-buttered 
dish should be lined with them and the toffee poured over. 

To blanch almonds, put them in a bowl and cover them 
with boiling water. Put a saucer over the bowl to keep the 
steam in, and leave for about three minutes. Then take out 
the almonds one by one and rub off their brown skins be- 
tween your fingers. 

Everton Toffee 

1 lb. brown sugar. 1 small cup of water. 

i lb. of butter. 

Boil the water and sugar together very gently until the 
sugar is melted. Then add the butter and boil all together 
for half an hour. 

Molasses Candy 

^ lb. molasses. J lb. brown sugar. 

2 oz. butter. 

Boil all together for half an hour. 

Nut Candy 

1 pint of chopped nuts. 3 oz, butter. 

J lb. brown sugar. Juice of one lemon. 

Tablespoonful of water. 

Boil everything, except the nuts, for twenty minutes, 



CANDY-MAKING 311 

stirring all the time. Test, and if done, add the nuts. Stir 
them in thoroughly and pour off into a dish. 

Nut Candy {another way) 
1 lb. brown sugar. 6 oz. butter. 

3 oz. chopped nuts. 

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the sugar. Boil 
from ten to fifteen minutes and then add the nuts. Walnuts, 
Brazil nuts, almonds, or peanuts (which have been baked) 
may be used. 

Peppermint Candy 

1 lb. syrup. 2 oz. butter. 

1 small teaspoonful of essence of peppermint. 

Boil the butter and syrup very gently until the mixture 
hardens when tested in water. Add the peppermint and pour 
into well-buttered dishes. 

Stuffed Dates, etc. 

Very dainty and good sweets can be made without cook- 
ing at all. All that is necessary is to have a certain amount 
of cream with which to stuff or surround stoned dates, cherries, 
and French plums, or walnuts and almonds. 

The cream is made in this way. Put the white of an Q>g^ 
and one tablespoonful of water into a bowl, and into this stir 
gradually 1 lb. of confectioner's sugar (confectioner's sugar or 
" icing " is the only kind that will do), working it very smooth 
with a spoon. This will make a stiff paste, which can be 
moulded into whatever shape you please. The cream can 
then be divided into different portions, and each portion 
flavored as you like best. A few drops of vanilla or lemon 
juice, a little grated cocoanut or chocolate, or some pounded 
almonds, make excellent flavorings. Part of it can be 
colored pink with cochineal, or green with spinach-coloring. 



312 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

When this is done, stone some dates, French plums, or 
raisins, or blanch some almonds and slit them in two, or have 
ready a number of the dried walnuts which can be bought at 
any grocer's. Only the perfect halves must be used. Form 
some of the cream into little balls and put it between two 
walnut halves or two almond halves, or stuff the other fruit 
with it. Trim all the sweets very neatly with a knife and 
roll them in granulated sugar. This is prettier when it has 
been colored pink or green, but there is no necessity to do so. 

To color the sugar, mix about 1 oz. with a few drops of 
green or pink coloring ; dry it thoroughly, and, if the grains 
are not quite free, put the sugar between some paper and roll 
it, or crush with an iron. 

Another richer mixture for filling dates, etc., can be made 
as follows : — Mix J^ lb. of ground almonds with 1 oz. of ground 
pistachios. Beat the whites of 3 eggs to a stiff froth and add 
the almonds and J^ lb. of confectioner's sugar. Color with 
green. Almonds can be bought already ground. 



GARDENING 



GARDENING 

Introductory 

ALTHOUGH 3^oung America is growing more and 
more fond of out of-doors, the lovely old occupation of 
gardening is less a favorite than formerly : and this 
is a great pity, for if one loves flowers, nothing so repays 
labor as gardening. Nor is it necessary to have a large tract 
of ground to cultivate. Indeed a tiny piece, well tended, is 
both more interesting and more successful. A corner of a 
cit}'' back-yard — even a window- box can be a source of never- 
failing entertainment ; although of course a little plot of rich 
earth in one part of a lawn or country garden, lends itself to 
greater and more extensive plans. The important thing 
about growing plants is to like to do it. If you are impatient 
of routine and neglectful you should not be intrusted with 
plants any more than with animal pets, for they are both en- 
tirely dependent on your care. 

It is your business, as a gardener, to know everything you 
can about your flowers. A gardener should be able to recog- 
nize seeds as well as seedlings ; to know what treatment each 
flower likes best; and to exercise a special care for tender 
plants which need protection until there is no longer any 
danger of frost. The beauty of a flower depends very much 
upon its content. Many flowers need particular soils ; some 
need dry soil, some moisture, some shade, and some sun ; and 
the gardener, who is a kind of mother to the flowers, will 
have to remember all those things. In return, the flowers, 

315 



3i6 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

which have a real sense of gratitude to those who care for 
them tenderly, will do their best to grow beautiful. 

It is best to begin with a few flowers and to learn all 
that one can about these. Annuals will scarcely ever fail if 
carefully sown in good soil. In making your choice, choose 
so that you will have flowers from spring to autumn. Peren- 
nial plants are the most satisfactory of all to grow ; for once 
planted they need only a very little attention and increase in 
size each year. Bulbs produce some of the most beautiful 
flowers and are very easy to grow. But great care must be 
taken not to dig into them after their blossoms have died 
down. 

Besides those flowers for the growing of which directions 
are hereafter given there are many tender ones which must be 
raised in frames. This is a part of gardening which can 
well be left until later and upon which instructions can be 
found in any more advanced book on horticulture. 

Color in the Garden 
In arranging a garden, select flowers which will keep it 
full of blossom from May to October, and remember when 
planting and sowing that some colors are more beautiful to- 
gether than others. The color arrangement of a garden is 
always difficult, but one must learn by experience. Scarlet 
and crimson, crimson and blue, should not be put together, 
and magenta-colored flowers are never satisfactory. Whites 
and yellows, and whites and blues, are always suitable to- 
gether, and for the rest you must please yourself. 

The Use of Catalogues I 

A good catalogue gives illustrations of most flowers, and 
in many cases its cultural directions are very helpful. As an 
extension of the notes that follow nothing could be more use- 
ful than two or three catalogues issued by good growers. 



GARDENING 317 

Gardening Diaries 
It is a good thing for a gardener to keep a diary. At the 
beginning of the book he would make a plan of the garden, to 
scale : that is to say, allowing one inch, or more, in the plan 
for every foot of bed. In this plan would be marked the po- 
sition of the bulbs and perennial plants. The diary would 
take note of everything that happened in the garden. The 
sowing of seeds would be recorded ; also when the seedlings 
first appear ; when they are thinned out, and when they blos- 
som : in fact, everything to do with the life of the plants. A 
little collection of drawings of seedlings would be of great 
use in helping to distinguish them another year. At the end 
of the book might be written the names of any plants that the 
owner would like to have, or any special information about 
the culture of a plant, or the description of some arrangement 
which had been admired in another garden. 

Flower-Shows 
Where several children have gardens in the same big 
garden, or the same neighborhood, a flower-show is very in- 
teresting to hold now and then. To do this it is needful first 
to find some one willing to act as judge, and — if agreeable — 
to give several small prizes in addition to certificates of merit. 
The different things for which prizes are offered will depend, 
of course, upon what the competitors can grow. There might 
be prizes for different flowers, for collections of flowers, and 
for lettuces or radishes, if there are enough competitors who 
grow such things. But the most important prize would go 
perhaps to the owner of the best-kept garden. Another for 
the best arrangement of bunches of flowers, garden and wild, 
might lead to some very pretty bouquets. 



3i8 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

Tools 
For simple gardening the following tools are needed : — 
spade, trowel, hoe, rake, watering-can with a fine rose, syringe. 
They should all be strong and good. Besides these tools you 
will need either wooden labels or other home-made means of 
marking seeds, some strong sticks to use as supports for tall- 
growing plants, and tape to tie them up with. A pair of 
gloves — any old ones w^ill do — ^is v^ery necessary. 

Watering 

Plants should never be watered when the sun is shining 
on them. Early morning in spring, and late afternoon or 
early evening in summer, is the best time. It is best to water 
with water which has had the chill taken from it by standing 
in the sun or in the house. In watering seedlings and tiny 
plants, keep the rose on your watering-can; but with big 
plants it is better to take off the rose and pour the water 
gently, waiting every now and then for it to sink in round 
their roots. If the ground is very dry and baked, break up 
the surface of it round the plants with a rake, or push a fork 
carefully into the earth. This will help the water to sink in. 

Water very regularly during hot and dry weather. It is 
very hard on your plants to give them a splendid drink one 
day and to forget all about them for a week. 

Ferns should have a gentle spray bath every afternoon if 
you want to keep them fresh and green, and all leaves look 
the brighter for a shower from your watering-can. ^ 

Perennial plants, annuals, and rose-trees will greatly 
benefit if watered with slop-water while they are flowering. 

Wall Pockets | 

If your garden is very small, but is against a sunnj wall, 
the growing room can be increased by fixing a number of 



GARDENING 319 

pockets, made of wood or of flower-pots, against the wall. 
These should be filled with good soil, and in them wallflowers, 
pinks, bulbs of different kinds. Wandering Jew, and some 
varieties of wild-flowers, etc., can be planted. 

Borders 
The first thing to do when a plot has been given to you, 
is to mark it off clearly with a border. There are several 
ways of doing this. Gardens are sometimes bordered with 
escallop shells, which are neat enough but seem rather out of 
place among flowers. Tiles make another tidy artificial bor- 
der ; but the best is made of natural rough stones from six to 
twelve inches long. These stones, which should be sunk into 
a groove, are soon covered with patches of green moss, and 
if between their irregular ends you drop a few seeds of low 
growing annuals, such as candytuft ; or plant little pieces of 
thyme, blue forget-me-not, or any kind of rockfoil or stone- 
crop, the border will become one of the prettiest things in the 
garden. If you prefer a growing boundary, a very nice stiff 
little hedge can be made by sowing endive in a line all round 
the garden, and, after allowing it to run to seed, cutting and 
trimming it. But of course there is no natural border to com- 
pare with box ; but to get a good box hedge is a tedious 
matter. 

Annuals 
The seeds of all annuals can be sown from March until 
June according to the locality. Any one in the neighborhood 
who has gardened for some years can tell you when to plant 
better than any catalogue. The seeds of favorite flowers 
should be sown several times at intervals of a fortnight, so 
that you may have a succession of them through summer and 
autumn. 



320 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

Preparations for Sowing 

Before sowing any seeds, see that the soil is nicely broken 
up, and remove any stones. 

When you have decided where to sow the different seeds, 
take away a little earth from each place and sow the seeds 
very thinly — remembering that each plant must be from four 
inches to twelve inches apart ; cover lightly with the earth 
you took out and press it down firmly with your trowel. 
Then mark the place with little pieces of white wood, on 
which the names of the seeds have been written with an in- 
delible pencil. It is much easier to sow the tiny seeds thinly 
if you first mix them with a little sand. These must be only 
just covered by a very fine sprinkling of earth; but sweet-pea 
and nasturtium must be sown deeper. 

Thinning Out and Transplanting 
Begin to thin out the seedlings very soon after they ap- 
pear, and be very careful not to pull up too many. It is 
easiest to thin out when the soil is wet. When the seedlings 
are two inches high only those which you wish to keep should 
be left in. It is not very easy to say exactly how much room 
to leave the different plants, but plants which will be six 
inches high should be about three inches apart ; those which 
will be one foot high about six inches, and so on. Godetia, 
nasturtium, love-in-a-mist, sweet-pea, cornflower, and larkspur 
seedlings can be transplanted when about two inches high, if 
you find you want them where they have not been sown. To 
do this water the ground well first, and then pull the seed- 
lings out so gently that none of their tiny fibrous roots are 
snapped ; and, if possible, bring away a little earth with each. 
Ke-plant them as quickly as you can, making for each a little 
hole big enough for the roots to spread out in. Hold the 
seedling in position, and fill in with very moist earth ; or else, 



GARDENING 321 

after you have made the hole, fill it up with water, then put 
back some of the earth and stir it up into a sort of paste, and 
put the seedling in this, filling up the hole with the rest of 
the earth. Seedlings that have been transplanted must be 
kept moist until they have taken a good start, and if possible 
they should be shaded with a branch of evergreen, for they 
droop very quickly in the heat. 

All seedlings must be watered gently and often. If you 
notice how quickly the sun dries the surface of the ground, 
you will see how necessary it is to keep the ground moist un- 
til the roots get bigger and go down deep into the earth. 



Weeds and Seedlings 
It is most important to know what the baby-plants will 
look like when they come up, because one has to weed hard 
in the warm showery weather, and if one is not careful, mig- 
nonette, sweet-peas, and poppies may go on the rubbish heap, 
and chickweed and purseley be left on the flower-bed ; which, 
although it is what the birds like, will, later, be very dis- 
heartening to you. Of course, if your seeds are well marked, 
there will be less difiiculty, but even then weeds will come up 
amongst them. The only safe way is to get to know the ap- 
pearance of all the seedlings, and to help you to remember it 
is a good thing to make little drawings of them in your gar- 
den note-book. 

Autumn Sowing 

Some seeds, such as cornflowers, godetias, and poppies, 
can be sown in the autumn. They will stand the winter as a 
rule and will make finer plants and blossom earlier than if 
sown in spring. They should be sown thinly in open ground. 

Any good catalogue will give you a list of annuals suit- 



322 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

able for your purposes and with a little advice from an older 
gardener you will have no difficulty in selecting wisely. 

Biennials 

These are best sown in May. If the garden is full 
they may be sown in an ordinary wooden box filled with sev- 
eral inches of good earth. Transplant them to their perma- 
nent places later on. 

Eemember that all plants will flower for a much longer 
time if the flowers are kept cut and any faded ones taken off. 

Saving Seed 
The best seed is saved from plants set apart for that pur- 
pose ; for good seed comes from the first and finest flowers and 
not from those left over at the end of the flowering season. 
These plants should be sown in a little patch by themselves, 
should be allowed to run to seed, and carefully tended until 
the seed-pods are ripe enough to be gathered. If, therefore, 
you have not a large garden, it is best to buy most of your 
seed each year, using a little of your own, from which, how- 
ever, you must not always expect the finest flowers. If you 
have no wish to keep any of your flowers merely for seeding 
purposes but still want, while getting flowers from them, also 
to save a few seeds, the thing to do is to mark one or two of 
the finest blossoms with a tiny piece of wool or silk (it is 
better when it is the color of the flower) and let it go to seed. 
Take special care of the plant, and cut off all other flowers as 
you wish to gather them. Watch the seed-pods when they 
are formed, and when they are ripe — that is, brown and dry 
— cut them off, break them open, and spread the seeds out. 
Look them over very carefully to see that there are no maggots 
amongst them, and if they are at all damp leave them in a 
warm place until they are dry. Then make them up in little 



GARDENING 323 

packets, clearly labeled with their names, colors, and the date, 
and put them away in a dry place until next spring. In sav- 
ing sunflower seeds choose your best sunflower, and when the 
petals have fallen tie it up in muslin, or else the birds will 
steal a march on you. In gathering sweet-pea pods one has 
to be rather clever, because when they are quite ripe they 
burst open and the seeds fly out suddenly, sometimes just as 
one is going to cut them. In one poppy pod there are hun- 
dreds of seeds, enough to stock a garden, and the same is the 
case with the pretty pods of love-in-a-mist. Nasturtium seeds 
should be picked up when they fall on the ground, and spread 
out until quite brown and dry. Cornflowers, which have 
little seeds like shaving-brushes, generally sow themselves, 
and marigolds do too, but they are both easy to save. In 
choosing a place in which to keep seeds through the winter 
remember that damp is not the only danger. Mice enjoy 
them thoroughly. 

Perennials 
Perennials are plants which, although they die down in 
winter, come up again and blossom every following spring 
or summer. They can be grown from seed, but, with a few 
exceptions, this is a long and troublesome part of gardening, 
and it is best to get them from friends or from a nurseryman. 

Planting Perennials 
The best months for planting perennials are N"ovember, 
February, and March. Dig a hole large enough to take the 
roots when well spread out, hold your plant in position, with 
the junction of stem and root just below the le\"el of the earth, 
and fill in gently with fine soil, pressing it down firmly all 
round the plant, and if there is danger of frost protect the 
plants with straw, bracken, or a mulching of manure. JSTever 
water if there is any likelihood of frost. 



324 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

Here follow some general remarks concerning the treat- 
ment of perennials through the spring, summer, and au- 
tumn : — 

Slugs 
In the spring, slugs, which eat the tender new leaves of 
many plants, can be kept away by sprinkling coal-ash around 
them. 

Watering 
In hot weather, water perennials regularly and well, 
breaking up earth around them so that the water sinks in 
easily. 

Supports I 

All tall-growing perennials will need stakes to support ii 
them. Care must be taken not to injure the roots when \ 
putting these in. The stalks can be tied with twine. 

Dividing 
Perennials can be divided if they grow too large. With 
summer-flowering plants this should be done in October or 
November, and with spring-flowering plants in June. In 
dividing you simply dig up the plant and break off as much 
of it as you want, being careful not to injure the roots. As, 
however, there are many plants which, to be divided, must be 
cut, and as this is an operation which requires some skill and 
knowledge, it would perhaps be better to take advice. 

Perennials From Seed 
Snapdragon, wallflower, pansies, and hollyhocks are very 
easily grown from seed. They can be sown in June (wall- 
flowers are best sown in April) in boxes, and thinned out and 
transplanted to permanent places as soon as they are large 

enough. They will blossom the following year. 

-jf 

i 



GARDENING 325 

Seedlings 

Seedlings of most perennials can be bought for a few 
cents a dozen. They should be planted as quickly as possible 
and watered well, and they will flower the following year. 

Consult a good nurseryman's catalogue for a list of hardy 
perennials, as for the annuals. 

Bulbs — General Remarks 

A garden that is planted only with bulbs, or with bulbs 
and a few ferns, can be kept beautiful all the year round. 
Many of our loveliest flowers come from bulbs, and they are 
easy to grow and interesting to watch from the moment that 
the first leaf-tips push through the earth until they die down. 
The position of all bulbs should be very carefully marked on 
the beds and in your garden-plan, so that you will not cut or 
injure them when digging your garden over. 

The first bulbs to come — through the snow sometimes — 
are the snowdrops, single and double, crocuses — yellow, pur- 
ple, lilac, and striped — and then the tiny bright blue squills ; 
and a little later the yellow daffodil and white narcissus, hya- 
cinths, and tulips of every kind. Then white, red, and pur- 
ple anemones, ranunculi, and wax-like Stars of Bethlehem. 
In June there are wonderful irises and tall spikes of summer- 
flowering gladiolus — red and white — and later still the tall 
garden lilies. There are many of these lilies, and all of them 
are exceedingly beautiful. Two kinds should be in all gardens 
— the white Madonna lily, and the orange tiger lily. All the 
bulbs that have been mentioned cost very little and can be 
grown very simply. And all bulbs that have been mentioned 
can remain untouched for many years unless they exhaust the 
soil around them (when, instead of increasing as they should 
each year, the plants become poorer and smaller). 

Never move a bulb when it is in active growth : after the 
leaves haTe died down is the right time. 



326 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

Leaf-mould mixed with your garden soil will help to give 
you fine flowers. 

If the leaves of the bulbs are attacked by slugs, as they 
often are, sprinkle a little wood-ash all around them. 

Planting Bulbs 

For planting bulbs choose a day when the earth is dry, 
and make your holes with a trowel. If you want to make a 
clump of bulb-plants, take away the earth to the right depth 
from the whole area you wish to fill, place your bulbs in posi- 
tion, points upward, and cover over, pressing the earth firmly 
down. 

In planting a bulb in a hole made for it by a trowel, be 
very careful to see that it is resting on earth, and is not 
^' hung," that is to say, kept from touching the earth under- 
neath because of the narrowness of the hole. 

All bulbs may be protected during the winter by laying 
hay or straw over them. This must be neatly pegged down, 
and removed in March. 

Cutting Leaves 
N"ever cut all the leaves of plants growing from bulbs, but 
allow those that are unpicked to die down naturally. If they 
look very untidy, as the leaves of the Star of Bethlehem 
always do, tie them up tightly. Seeds of annuals can always 
be sown among bulbs, and they will hide dying leaves and fill 
up the places that are left vacant. 

Shades 
" Shades " are subterranean gardens : holes in the ground, 
some eighteen inches deep and about a foot square (or larger), 
the sides of which are covered Avith moss and little ferns. At 
the bottom you can sink a pot or a tin, which must always 
be kept filled with water. It is more interesting if a toad 



GARDENING 327 

or a frog lives there. Over the hole stands a shade made of 
glass and wood, which, together with the water, keeps it cool 
and moist. 

Kitchen Gardens 
If you want to grow other things besides flowers, lettuces, 
radishes, and mustard and cress are interesting to raise. 
Strawberries, too, are easy to cultivate, but they need some 
patience, as the first year's growth brings very few berries. 
In sowing the seeds of lettuce, radish, and mustard and cress, 
follow directions given for sowing flower seeds on page 320. 
If you want to grow even the few things mentioned, which 
need only very simple culture, the soil of the garden must 
be good. 

Lettuce 
Sow a few seeds of lettuce very thinly in a line once every 
three weeks. When the seedlings, which should be protected 
from birds by netting, are three inches high, thin them out, 
leaving one foot between each plant. The seedlings that are 
pulled up can be transplanted or eaten. Transplanted let- 
tuces should be shaded during hot weather and given plenty 
of water. During dry and hot weather you may water let- 
tuces every day. 

Radishes 
Sow a few radish seeds thinly once every three weeks, 
and cover very lightly with earth. These seedlings also must 
be protected by netting from birds, and must have plenty of 
water, or the radishes will become stringy and poor. In 
summer sow in a shady place. 

Mustard and Cress 
Mustard and cress seed can be sown at any time and is 
almost sure to be successful. In very hot weather sow in the 



328 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

shade, or protect from the sun in the middle of the day. The 
cress should always be sown three days before the mustard. 
It is a favorite device to sow one's name in mustard and cress. 
For other ways of treating it, see page 332. 



! Strawberries 

Plant strawberries carefully in August or September. 
Dig a hole for each plant and spread the roots well out. Hold 
the plant while filling in the earth, so that that part of it 
where root and stem join comes just below the soil. Each 
plant should be eighteen inches from its neighbor. Cut off all 
runners — that is, the long weedy stems which the plants 
throw out in spring, and water well if the weather is dry. 
Protect the strawberries from birds, and watch very carefully 
for slugs, which are greedy strawberry-eaters. When the 
fruit begins to form, lay some straw on the earth under and 
between the plants. This will keep the berries clean. 

Town Gardens 
So far, we have been speaking of gardens in the country, 
or, at any rate, not among houses. There are many more 
difficulties to contend with in town gardening ; there is more 
uncertainty, and often less reward for the greatest care, than 
in country gardening ; but the flowers that do grow seem so 
sweet between dull walls and under smoky chimneys, that one 
can forget how much more luxuriant they could be in other 
circumstances. 

Flowers for Towns 
The following list of annuals, perennials, and bulbs which 
grow well in the heart of towns, though it is not complete^ 
contains enough plants to fill a garden : — 





GARDENING 


r 


Annuals. 


Perennials. 


Bulbs. 


Alyssum. 


Jap. Anemones. 


Crocuses, 


Candytuft. 


Campanulas. 


DafEodils. 


Collinsia. 


Delphiniums. 


Hyacinths. 


Coreopsis. 


Flags. 


Madonna Lilies. 


Miguonette. 


Gaillardias. 


Squills. 


Nasturtiums. 


Pinks. 


Spanish Irises. 


Poppies. 


Sunflowers. 


Tulips. 


Sunflowers. 


Wallflowers. 


Winter Aconite. 



329 



In addition to the plants mentioned above, hardy ferns 
grow well, and so do lilies of the valley, and stonecrops and 
saxifrages. Wandering Jew will also thrive, and the canary 
creeper grows as well in town as in the country. 

In summer, geraniums, fuchsias, heliotrope — which must 
be well watered — pansies, lemon verbena, and scented gera- 
niums, can be planted out. 

Koses do not do very well in towns ; but hardy ones will 
grow quite enough flowers to make the possession of them a 
great delight. 



Indoor Gardening and Window Boxes — Precautions 
A window full of flowers and green plants makes all the 
difference to a room. There are always certain difficulties 
about growing plants in a room ; but these may, however, be 
partly overcome. One is the great change of temperature 
between day and night in winter ; another is the very evil 
effect of gas on plants ; and a third is the presence of dust. 
The difference of temperature is met to a great extent by 
taking the flowers away from the window at night and putting 
them in the middle of the room. This is specially necessary 
when there is any danger of frost. If gas is burned in the 
room where plants are all da}?-, it is wise at evening to take 
the trouble to move them into another room, for nothing 
injures them more. As to dust, ferns and plants which have 



330 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

smooth leaves should be gently sponged with warm water 
once a week, or else the pores will be so choked that the plants 
will not be able to breathe. Those plants which cannot be 
sponged, such as fine-leafed ferns, geraniums, etc., should be 
gently sprayed occasionally, or, in warm weather, placed out- 
of doors during a soft shower. When a room is being cleaned, 
the plants should either be taken away or covered with soft 
paper. 

The window chosen for your plants should be a sunny 
one and as draughtless as may be. It should not be opened 
unless the day is very mild. One thing to remember is that 
wherever the plants are they should have as much sun, as 
equal a temperature, and as little draught as possible. 



Watering 
]^o exact rule can be given for watering ; but it should 
be noted that water ought never to be allowed to stand in the 
saucers. In winter, one good watering a week with luke- 
warm water, applied in the morning, will be sufficient. In 
spring, when the plant is more active, more water will be 
needed, and in summer constant attention must be given to 
watering. Kemember, that not only the surface but the 
whole soil needs moistening. 



Flower-Pots 

In spring time, if the plants seem to have outgrown their 
pots, or if they are not thriving well, re-pot them in larger 
pots with the best earth you can get. Water well after re- 
potting. 

Turn the plants round every day, as the sun always draws 
them toward it. 



i 



GARDENING 331 

Indoor Plants 

A list follows of suitable plants to be grown indoors. 
Green plants are mentioned first. 

Aspidistra. — Of all green giants the aspidistra is the 
best to grow indoors. (This plant indeed is so hardy that it 
will stand not only draught but even a certain amount of gas.) 
Its smooth, beautiful leaves should be carefully sponged every 
week. 

India-rubber Plant. — The india-rubber plant is a very 
handsome, smooth, bright-leaved plant. It should not be 
given too much water. 

Ferns. — Several hardy ferns grow well in a window. 
The maidenhair is very beautiful while it lasts, but it is a 
poor thing the second year unless it can be put into a green- 
house and cared for. 

Ivy. — Small-leaved variegated ivy will grow under al- 
most any conditions. Its leaves should be kept clean. If 
grown up a small trellis it is very pretty. 

Japanese Fern Balls. — In February and March one can 
buy Japanese fern balls. The balls have to be soaked for 
two or three hours in water (rainwater if possible) and then 
drained and hung up in a window where there is not too much 
sun. They should be watered three times a week. Gradually 
the delicate ferns will grow and unfold until the whole ball is 
a mass of green. In November they should be put away in a 
cool dark place until the following February, when they can 
be started again. 

Miniature Trees. — Fine little trees can be grown from 
chestnuts, beechnuts, acorns, and hazel-nuts. Collect the nuts 
as they fall and leave them in a dark place, until about two 
weeks before Christmas, when you lay them in bowls full of 
wet moss or in pots filled with earth, and put them in a warm 
dark place near hot pipes, or in a warm cupboard. This 



332 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

warmth will start the root growth. When the root is two 
inches long, fill a bowl with moss or pebbles, lay the nuts on 
the top so that they are only half covered, with the roots down- 
ward, and keep in a room where they will have plenty of 
light. Water frequently but do not let much water stand in 
the bowl. 

Wheat or Canary Seed. — Wheat or canary seed can be 
sown in any kind of dish, the bottom of which is covered with 
wet moss. Sow the seed thickly and then keep the dish in a 
dark cupboard until the seedlings are about two inches high. 
Then place it in a sunny window. The seed, which will take 
about three weeks to grow, makes a beautiful patch of clear 
light green in a room. Keep the moss wet. 

Mustard and Cress can be sown in pots or on pieces of 
wet flannel. 

Camjpanulas. — Blue and white campanulas are grown 
in almost every cottage window, and they are very beautiful 
and graceful. They can be grown in pots, but are prettiest 
in baskets from which to hang down. 

Fuchsias and Geraniums. — Both fuchsias and geraniums 
are gay and delightful plants for a room. Good kinds should be 
bought in early summer and well watered. In winter the 
plants should be kept in a cool dark place, until with the com- 
ing of spring they begin to grow again. Both can very easily 
be increased by cuttings. To do this take off a shoot of about 
four inches long, cutting it off just below a joint. Then pull 
off the leaves just above the joint and put it into some earth 
in a sunny corner and water it well. In about a month roots 
will have formed and it can then be potted. 

Bulbs. — Bulbs, such as tulips, iris, daffodils, crocuses, 
scillas, and snowdrops, can be grown in pots or deep earthen- 
ware saucers that have been filled with cocoanut fibre. This 
can be bought at any florist's. A little shell, shingle, or sand, 



GARDENING 333 

can be mixed with the fibre, and a piece of charcoal should 
be put at the bottom of the pot to keep it sweet. The bulbs 
need only to be covered with a thin layer of damp fibre. 
Water regularly, as they must never get dry. If your pot 
has no drainage hole it is a good thing a little while after 
watering to turn it gently on one side so that any water 
which has not been soaked up by the fibre can run off. 

Bulbs can also be grown indoors in earth. Plant them 
in October just below the soil, and keep them in a cool dark 
place until they have made a little growth. Then bring to a 
sunny window. Horsfieldii narcissus, polyanthus-flowered 
narcissus, and yellow jonquils, grow well, and so do tulips, 
hyacinths, and crocuses. In a sunny window the Scarborough 
lily ( Vallota purpurea) can be grown. It is a very gorgeous 
and imposing red flower which blossoms in August and Sep- 
tember. It should be planted in autumn and plenty of room 
allowed for its roots. 

The Good-Luck Lily, which is a strong and beautiful 
polyanthus narcissus, can be grown in bowls filled with peb- 
bles and water. Fill the bowl almost to the top with clean 
pebbles (which can be brought from the seashore), and among 
them plant the bulbs and fill up with water which must be 
added to as it evaporates. Among the pebbles put two or 
three pieces of charcoal. 

Bulbs in Glasses 
Hyacinths and daffodils can also be grown in glasses filled 
with water, either glasses sold for the purpose, or any kind 
into the necks of which the bulbs will fit. The bulb should 
be placed in the glass in October, and should not quite touch 
the water. Use good fresh water and put a little piece of 
charcoal in the glass. Change the water once a week. In 
warm sunny weather the hyacinths can be put out of doors 
for a little while every day. 



334 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

Window Boxes 

One cannot grow very many things in a window box, but 
it is most interesting to grow a few. In a town it is often all 
the garden that many people possess. 

The length of a window-box will depend on the size of 
the window. Its depth should be ten inches at least. At the 
bottom of the box some cinders or other rough material 
should be put, and then it should be filled up with the best 
earth you can get. And because of the difference it makes to 
the growth of your flowers it is worth while to take a great 
deal of trouble in getting good, rich mould. The earth may 
be kept level, or heaped up at one or both ends, and a few 
stones added to make a tiny rockery, in which you can grow 
small saxifrages and other rock plants. 

Flowers for \A^indow-Boxes 

ITasturtiuras and canary creeper can climb up a little 
trellis made of sticks at each end of the box, or they can cling 
to strings fixed to the box and nailed high up at the side of 
the window. Wandering Jew or ivy-leaved geranium will 
fall over the front of the box and make it look very gay. 
Bulbs, such as winter aconite, squills, snowdrops, a few 
daffodils, tulips and irises, will grow well in boxes. These 
should be planted rather deep. Then primroses and forget- 
me-nots can be planted, and in May a border of lobelia, one 
or two geraniums, pansies, fuchsias, a plant of lemon verbena, 
and some musk. Mignonette, Yirginia stock, coUinsia, should 
be sown in spring in little patches or lines. 

Keep the leaves of all the plants as clean as possible by 
gentle watering with a rose. Never let the earth get dry 
from neglect, or sodden from too much watering ; yet water 
well, for driblets only affect the surface, and it is the roots far 
down in the box that need moisture. 



GARDENING 335 

Cutting Flowers and Packing Them — Flowers for Post 
It is best, if possible, to pick flowers the day before you 
want to send them off. Pick them in the afternoon, sort 
them and bunch them up, and then stand them in water right 
up to their heads, and keep them there over night. A basin 
is the best thing to put the flowers in, unless the stalks are 
very long, and a jam-pot or two in the water will help to keep 
them from tumbling over and drifting about. Be very careful 
that the blooms do not touch the water. Keep the flowers in 
water until you are ready to pack them. Tin boxes are best 
to send flowers away in ; but generally one has to use card- 
board ones. Choose the strongest you can find and line it 
Avith two sheets of paper, one across and one long ways, and each 
long enough, to fold over when it is full. Then line again 
with some big cool leaves or moss. Dry the flowers and pack 
them as tightly as possible, taking great care not to crush the 
petals. Cover them with a few more leaves and fold the 
paper over. Then wrap up the box, remembering to write 
the address on a label tied at one end of the box, so that the 
postmark will not be stamped on the box itself and perhaps 
break it. 

Picking Flowers 
When you are picking flowers to send away, never pick 
old ones. Buds are best generally, especially in the case of 
poppies ; but they should be buds just on the point of opening. 
Always use scissors to cut flowers with. A very slight tug at 
a little plant in dry weather pulls its roots out of the ground. 
Cut the flowers with long stems and with some of their green 
leaves, and at the top of the box that you are sending away 
it is pleasant always to put something which smells very 
sweetly — lemon verbena, or mignonette — for that first sweet 
scent is one of the very best things about receiving a present 
of this kind. 



336 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

The Reception of Flowers 
When flowers are sent to you, each stem should be cut 
with a slanting cut before you put it in water. Flowers with 
very thick or milky stems should be slit up about half an inch, 
and woody stems are best peeled for an inch or two. Put the 
flowers deep into water that has had the chill taken off it. 
Always put flowers in water as quickly as possible after they 
are picked. Change the water every day, and recut the stems 
if they look at all brown or dry. 



PETS 




Pets (Facrnfj page 33S) 



PETS 

IN no case do the following hints as to the care and char- 
acter of pets go so far as they might. But they lay 
down broadly the most useful rules. In cases where a 
dog or bird is really ill, and ordinary remedies and treatment 
do not help, the advice of some one who knows should be 
asked. It is because all children are in touch with some one 
who knows, that this chapter is not longer. The aim of the 
writer of most of the notes which follow has been to describe 
those creatures which are most commonly kept as pets, with a 
few suggestions as to their care in ordinary health. 

Dogs : Their Care and Food 
All dogs need plenty of exercise ; indeed it is scarcely 
possible to give them too much when once they are over six 
months of age. After twelve months they can follow a 
horse, but a bicycle as a rule is too fast for a dog, and the ex- 
cessive exertion is likely to make them ill. Plenty of fresh 
air and freedom are necessary, and your dog should never be 
chained except at night, when he should have a snug bed 
away from any draught. The house is the best place for a 
dog to sleep, but should he live in a kennel it must be a 
roomy one, filled two or three times a week with clean straw 
and raised from the ground about six inches so that it will 
keep dry. Kennels with runs in front are the best, as then 
the dog need never be chained. In these there should be a 
wooden bench for him to lie on, sheltered by a sloping roof. 
An earthenware trough of clean water he must always have, 
and most dogs will do best if they are fed twice a day t a light 

339 



340 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



breakfast of biscuit or brown bread and a good dinner of' 
scraps or dog-biscuit soaked in gravy with vegetables and 
plenty of rice. A rounded leather collar is best for dogs with 
long hair, as it does not show so much or spoil the coat, but 
for smooth-coated dogs a flat plain collar is best. 

Washing Dogs 

Dogs should not be washed very often, nor will this be 
necessary if they are well brushed every day. A stable 
dandy-brush is best for short-coated dogs, and a hard hair- 
brush, or one of those wuth metal bristles, which can be 
bought in most saddlers' shops, for long-coated ones. 

Common yellow soap and soft thick towels should be 
used when your dog really needs a bath. Have a pailful of 
warm water, a pitcher to dip it up with, a piece of mild yellow 
soap, and a pail of cold water. Pour a little warm water over 
the dog, beginning with his back, shoulders, and sides, and 
finish with his head, rubbing the soap into a lather all over 
him at the same time. Be careful not to let any water into 
his ears, or soap into his eyes. Next rinse the soap well out of 
his coat with the warm water, beginning with the head. 
Then pour the cold water all over him and let him shake him- 
self well. Rub him dry with towels and give him a run on 
grass. Big dogs must be washed in a yard, but you can put a 
little one in the tub indoors. All dogs are better for some- 
thing to eat after a bath. To swimmers a plunge in a pond 
or river is good exercise and a tonic ; but dogs should not be 
thrown in. 

Feeding Puppies 
Puppies at first need feeding ^ve times a day. At four 
months old four meals will do. At twelve months they settle 
down into grown-up dogs, and the two meals are sufiicient. 



PETS 341 

Do not feed them later than six o'clock, and always give them 
a walk after their last meal. A few dry dog-biscuits when 
they go to bed will do no harm, and a large mutton or beef 
bone now and then will do them good, but small bones are 
very dangerous, as they splinter and may kill or seriously 
injure the dog. 

Distemper 
Young dogs are almost sure to have distemper, and if a 
puppy about six or eight months old is depressed and quiet, 
and his eyes look inflamed, you should put him away by him- 
self at once, sew him up in thick warm flannel, bathe his eyes 
with cold tea, and attend very carefully to his diet. It will 
be difiicult to make him eat, but you must coax him and even 
pour strong beef-tea or milk down his throat, for if he does 
not eat he will have no strength to fight the disease. Tripe is 
the best food for him if he will take it, but try everything to 
tempt him, and give him as much as he will take. When you 
take your patient for a walk (and he will need exercise) do 
not take him where he may meet other dogs, for distemper is 
very infectious. Put an extra coat over him, wrapping it 
well round his throat and chest. Distemper is a fever, and 
the risk of chill is very great; it means inflammation of some 
sort from which the dog being weak is not likely to recover. 
It is always best to call in a veterinary surgeon when a dog 
shows symptoms of distemper. 

Tricks for Dogs 
If your dog is a terrier there is no end to the tricks you 
can teach him. Always begin by teaching him to " trust," 
for it is the foundation of his training, and he will learn it 
before he is two months old. Do not keep him " on trust '^ 
for more than a second or two at first, but gradually make 
the time longer, until he will let you leave the room and not 



342 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

touch the biscuit until you return. Then you can teach him 
to die, and waltz, sing, ask, box, and beg. Treat him always 
with patience and firmness ; be quick to reward but never 
give in to him. You will, of course, bear in mind the char- 
acter of the dog in teaching him tricks. Dogs of dignified 
nature, such as St. Bernards, mastiffs, Great Danes, and deer- 
hounds, for example, you would not labor to transform into 
performers. The best dogs of all for teaching elaborate!}^ 
are poodles. 

What is Due to Dogs 
Do not overdo your mastership. Kemember that a dog 
needs much liberty and independence to develop his individu- 
ality, and an enterprising puppy learns more by observation 
and experience in a week than a pampered lap-dog does in his 
whole life ; he learns self-reliance, but he will always run to 
his master or mistress in any real difiiculty, and you who are 
his master or mistress must be wary not to misunderstand or 
disregard him, for he needs sympathy and love, and if he 
does not get them he either becomes cowed and stupid or a 
ne'er-do-weel. 

Buying Dogs 
If you wish to buy a dog, the best way is to get the cata- 
logue of some big dog show, and find the address of a well- 
known breeder of the kind of dog you wish to have. If you 
write to him and tell him exactly what you want he will 
probably send you a suitable puppy at a fair price. If you 
think of buying through an advertisement, have the dog on 
approval first. Another objection to buying a dog at all 
casually is that you will not know either his temper, which is 
generally inherited, or his age. In all cases it is best to buy 
puppies and train them yourself. This means a good deal of 
trouble at first, and takes time and patience, but the j^ounger 



PETS 343 

the puppy the easier he is to train. The best age is about 
five weeks old. With constant attention day and night for a 
few weeks you will have a perfectly trained dog who will be 
a perfect companion to you for years. 

Brief descriptions of some of the best known dogs are 
here given, beginning with terriers : — 

The Bull-Terrier 
The bull-terrier is very discriminating in his attachments 
and does not easily lose his temper, or, as a rule, fight, unless 
he is unduly excited. He is such a nervous dog that if he is 
roughly treated he is apt to become a coward, but there is no 
truer, more faithful friend than a properly trained terrier of 
this breed. 

The Fox-Terrier 
The fox-terrier is often a restless fidgety dog in a house ; 
indeed, to keep him much in the house seems to affect his in- 
telligence. He fights readily, but a strong master can alter 
that. In sharpness and brightness and hardiness he is not to 
be beaten, and no dog is more inquisitive and full of spirits. 
Perhaps of little dogs he is the best. 

The Irish Terrier 
The greatest fault of the Irish terrier is his fondness for 
barking unnecessarily; but he is particularly intelligent, 
active, and vigorous, and will learn any trick your ingenuity 
can devise for him. 

Other Terriers 
There are many other terriers — the Skye, with coat 
nearly sweeping the ground ; the black and tan, the Welsh 
terrier, and others less well known ; but for pluck, brains, an4 
fidelity, it is impossible to beat bull-terriers. 



344 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

Spaniels 

Of all spaniels the Clumber is the most intelligent and 
beautiful ; he is also, although not a very demonstrative dog, 
very sincere in his devotion to his master. 

The Cocker is a small spaniel : an active, merry little 
fellow who can be taught to retrieve. The black spaniel and 
the liver-colored Sussex are, like the Clumber, of the oldest 
and best breeds, and the Sussex variety makes an excellent 
house dog. He is quiet and dignified and has very good 
manners. The common IS'orfolk spaniel is intelligent, a good 
water dog, and a faithful companion. A satisfactory puppy 
should not cost more than five dollars. He and the Cocker 
are the best of the spaniels as pets, although these two breeds 
are also capable of good work in the field if carefully trained. 

The Retriever 
Eetrievers occasionally make good companions, but for 
the most part they are dogs of one idea — retrieving — and 
have little interest in using their intelligence in any other 
direction. 

Setters 
The setter is a wise and affectionate animal. He is full 
of spirit and needs careful training, but train him well as a 
puppy and you will be able to take him everywhere with 
you, for he is a very gallant and courteous gentleman. In 
color the English setter varies with the different breeds. The 
Gordon setter is black and tan, and the Irish is red. 

The Collie 

The reputation for uncertain temper which collies have is 

not well grounded. They are excitable, it is true, and apt to 

snap if you romp too long and wildly with them, and they do 

not take correction kindly ; but people who have owned 



PETS 345 

many specimens of this beautiful breed testify to having 
found thein always loving and sagacious. A collie should al- 
ways belong to one person ; many masters make him too 
universal in his aifections, and under these circumstances he 
does not develop intelligently. The collie at work is the 
wisest of dogs, he knows each individual sheep in his care, 
and in snow or mist will bring every one to the fold before 
he rests. 

Collies may be taught to play hide-and-seek — a game 
they are very fond of. First hide a ball in the room and 
help the dog to find it, and by degrees he will lind anything 
by himself and will seek all over the house and garden. 
Among bad habits many collies have the serious one of run- 
ning round and barking at horses. This should be checked by 
keeping the dog strictly to heel where he is likely to meet 
any traffic. 

The Sheep Dog 
The old English bob-tailed sheep dog is a bouncing, 
rough-and-ready fellow. He is not suitable for a house dog, 
but he is honest and true and a good worker, and one can get 
extremely fond of him. 

The Newfoundland 
The J^ewfoundland is one of the grandest of beasts. The 
true ]S:ewfoundland is black all over, except for a white star 
on the chest, and he stands at least twenty-seven inches at the 
shoulder. The black-and-white specimens are called Landseer 
Newfoundlands, on account of the famous painter's fondness 
for them. In character these dogs are dignified and magnan- 
imous, and they are particularly good with children. Many 
stories are told of their gallant efforts in saving life from 
drowning. The Newfoundland is used for draught in the 
island from which he takes his name. 



346 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

The Mastiff 
The mastiff is the best of all guards ; it is more pure in- 
stinct with him to guard his master's property than it is with 
any other breed. He is honest through and through, and as 
a rule he is gentle and a good companion. 

The Bull-Dog 
The bull-dog is stupid and not particularly affectionate. 
Although excitable he is not quarrelsome or savage, and if 
reasonably treated no doubt would make a quiet, faithful pet. 
A not too highly bred bull-dog is likely to be more intelligent 
than his very blue-blooded relations. 

The St. Bernard 
The most majestic of dogs is the St. Bernard. He is 
high-couraged and sagacious and very discriminating in his 
devotion. Once your friend, he is always your friend. Al- 
though with you he never makes a mistake, he is apt to growl 
at strangers, and is not to be relied on to be polite to visitors. 
If you have one of the rough-coated variety you must groom 
him regularly and take great care of him, as he is a delicate 
dog and subject to weakness in the back and hind legs if he is 
allowed to get w^et or lie on damp ground. 

The Great Dane 
The Great Dane, or boarhound, is a powerful and active 
dog. His appearance is suggestive almost of a wild beast, 
and he is particularly well fitted to act as guard. He is gentle 
and manageable with those he knows, and his great courage, 
intelligence, and strength make him a most desirable com- 
panion. 

Hounds 
Of hounds that hunt by sight we have the English Grey- 
hound, swiftest of dogs, but neither very intelligent nor af- 



PETS 347 

fectionate ; the Scotch Deerhound, dignified and very devoted 
to his master, and a wonderful jumper over gates and walk- 
ing-sticks ; and the Irish Wolf-hound, bigger and less graceful 
than either of the others, but with a great big heart and 
noble courage. Gelert was of this breed. There is also the 
Borzoi, whose appearance is a combination of greyhound and 
setter, a very beautiful but rather stupid animal. Finally, 
there is the Bloodhound, remarkable for great intelligence, 
good temper, and fidelity. He is one of the finest of dogs, 
wise and self-reliant and capable of the truest devotion to 
his master. He seldom or never fights, but is full of courage 
in spite of his naturally nervous disposition. 

Toy Dogs 
Toy dogs are fairly intelligent, but noisy and wayward. 
They cannot be recommended as interesting pets, since they 
have little originality ; but they can be taught tricks, and if 
treated sensibly and not pampered, no doubt they would de- 
velop more intelligence. The best of the toy dogs are Pugs, 
toy Pomeranians, the King Charles' Spaniel (black and tan 
in color), and the Blenheim spaniel (white and chestnut). 

The Pomeranian 
The Pomeranian is a sharp and rather snappy dog, not 
remarkable for either great intelligence or amiability ; but, as 
with all breeds, there are individual exceptions to this rule. 

Poodles 
Poodles are intelligent and the best of all dogs for learn- 
ing tricks. They are also very expensive. 

Mongrels 
Mongrels can be the best of friends. They are often 
more original and enterprising than their too highly-bred 



348 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

cousins, and they are very self-reliant ; but as a rule they are 
not so courageous nor so steadfast as a well-bred dog. The 
chief advantage of possessing a mongrel is that dog-stealers 
are less likely to be tempted by him, and you can give him 
more freedom, which will make him more interesting and 
intelligent than a dog you need to shut up and look after care- 
fully. 

Cats 
There is very little to say about cats, except that they 
need much petting and plenty of milk and tit-bits. They 
should always have a warm bed in a basket or chair. They 
should never be allowed to stay out-of-doors at night. 

Wild Rabbits 
Of all rabbits the brightest and most intelligent, as a 
pet, is the wild rabbit. If you can get two or three baby wild 
rabbits and feed them on milk, they will grow up very tame. 
We heard recently of two small wild rabbits that were taken 
out of the nest and brought up by hand. They and their mis- 
tress and a collie pup would play together, and they ran about 
the room, racing over the floor and furniture. In the summer 
one escaped from the coop on the lawn in which they were 
shut up, so the other was turned loose too. They would both 
come out of the bushes when called, run about over one's 
dress, and hunt pockets for oats or bits of apple, and would 
still play with their old friend the collie. It is sad to tell of 
» their death, which they met at the jaws of a strange dog who 
came marauding. They did not recognize in him an enemy, 
and easily fell his victims. 

Tame Rabbits 
The long-haired Angora variety of rabbit is intelligent 
and very handsome. These need regular grooming and great 



i 



PETS 349 

care, or their long coat gets matted and frowsy. Belgian 
hares are big, powerful animals, rather apt to be uncertain in 
temper, but they hav^e beautiful glossy coats and are enter- 
prising and amusing. The lop-eared rabbit is a stately beast 
and less brisk than his prick-eared relations. The Himalayan 
rabbit has no connection with the mountain chain from which 
it has its name, is white, with all its extremities — nose, ears, 
tail, and feet — black or very dark in color. The Dutch rab- 
bits are small. The body is colored, but the neck, forelegs, 
and jaws are white. But to the ordinary owner of a rabbit 
in a hutch, particular variety does not matter very much. 

Rabbits' Hutches 
A good hutch can be made of a grocer's box, by covering 
the open front partly with bars or wire netting and making a 
door. The hutch should stand on legs, or at any rate should 
be raised from the ground, and holes should be bored in the 
bottom for drainage. Then put in clean straw, and it is ready 
for the rabbit. In cold or wet weather and at night, it is w^ell 
to throw a cloth over the hutch for warmth. The hutch must 
be well ventilated, and it should be made in two compartments, 
one to admit plenty of light, and the other dark. It should 
be made so that the animal may be confined in either com- 
partment while the other is cleaned out. 

Food and Exercise 

Bran, grain, and vegetables — such as peas, parsley, car- 
rots, turnip-tops, but not much cabbage — serve for rabbits' 
food. It is advisable to vary it occasionally. The leaves 
should not be wet, but a dish of clean water may always stand 
in the hutch. 

The animal should be allowed at least half an hour's run 
every day, precautions being taken against its burrowing 



350 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

habits, and against its finding anything poisonous to eat. 
More than one family should not be allowed out at the same 
time, as they are very pugnacious. Most diseases are the re- 
sult of neglect in cleaning out the hutch regularly and thor- 
oughly. Rabbits which most nearly approach the wild in 
color are hardiest. 

Teaching Rabbits 
If you find you have an intelligent rabbit who quickly 
learns to come to you when you call him by name, you will 
find, with patience, you can teach him that when you say 
" On trust," he must not touch the dainty you offer him, and 
that " Paid for " means he may have it. He will also learn to 
" die," and shake hands when you tell him to do so. 

Guinea-Pigs 
Guinea-pigs need treatment and housing similar to rab- 
bits. 

Squirrels 
In buying a squirrel make sure it is a young one, because 
whereas a young one is difficult enough to tame, an old one is 
not to be tamed at all. Unless you can give him a really 
large cage, with room for a branch on which he may leap 
about, it is cruel to keep a squirrel at all, so beautifully free 
is his nature. A little side compartment containing a revolv- 
ing wheel should be added. Your only chance of taming him 
is to be extremely quiet and gentle in all your visits to the cage 
and in giving him his food — nuts, acorns, grain, cold boiled 
potatoes, dry bread, and now and then a small piece of cooked 
meat. A very charming account of what it is possible to do 
with tame squirrels will be found in a little book called Billy 
and Hans, by Mr. W. J. Stillman. 



PETS 351 

Mice 
Mice should have a cage with two compartments, one of 
which should have a door in the wood work but no wires. In 
this room should be a bed of hay. The natural food of mice 
is grain, but in captivity they are generally fed on bread and 
milk and slices of apple. They can be tamed to a small ex- 
tent, but for the most part they do no more than run round a 
wheel, although if other gymnastic contrivances are offered 
them they will probably do something with them. Dormice 
(to whose food you may add nuts) sleep through the winter 
months, and are therefore not very interesting for more than 
half the year. 

Turtles 
A turtle is rather an interesting animal to keep, al- 
though he will not do much in return. Even in summer they 
have a curious way of disappearing for weeks together, and 
in winter, of course, you see nothing of them. An ordinary 
mud turtle is often seen moving slowly along the roads after 
a rain. He can be carried home by turning him over on his 
back — but be careful to keep your fingers away from his 
snapping mouth. As a rule they can feed themselves, and 
-they also have the happy knack of doing without food alto- 
gether for long periods, so that you need not be anxious. 

Fish 
Bowls of goldfish are not uncommon, but few people 
seem to care for fish of other kinds. And yet a little aqua- 
rium can be stocked for a small sum and is a most interest- 
ing possession. One small tank of young bream, for example, 
can be a perpetual and continually fresh delight. Let the 
tank have cloisters of rock work and jungles of weed, so that 
hiding may be possible, and then watch the smaller fish 
at their frolics. Young trout are hardly less beautiful, and 



352 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

very easy to keep healthy, in spite of general opinion to the 
contrary. The important thing is to maintain a current of 
water through the tank. The old way was to carry the over- 
flow down a pipe in the centre through its surface opening, 
but an improvement on this system is for the leakage to be at 
the bottom of the tank and the inflow at the top. Young 
perch are beautiful too, — and tench, and dace, and roach, — 
and all are hardy. Feeding them is very simple. The shop 
from which you buy the fish will keep you supplied with the 
proper food. The American catfish, with its curious antennae 
or whiskers, and its gleaming eyes, set as by a jeweler, is more 
wonderful, and not a whit more difficult to keep. But to be 
amused by such unfamiliar neighbors as atankfulof fish there 
is no real need either to stray abroad or to spend any money. 
The ordinary minnow, which you can catch in any stream and 
pop into a jar, will serve to introduce you to a new world — 
a world of silent progressions, of incredible celerities, of 
amazing respirations. 

Silkworms 
Silkworms, if kept at all, ought to be taken seriously and 
used for their true purpose. That is to say, you really ought 
to wind their silk carefully. Few owners of silkworms in 
this country seem to trouble to do this. Silkworms' eggs can 
be bought of any naturalist, or some one who keeps silkworms 
will willingly give you some. The time is about the end of 
April. They are usually laid on scraps of paper, and these 
you put in shallow paper and cardboard trays covered with 
gauze, and place them in the room where the sun can reach 
them. As the worms hatch out you must move them — it is 
done best with a small paint brush — to another tray or trays 
and keep them supplied with fresh mulberry leaves or lettuce. 
The worms continue to grow for about a month, and then, 



PETS 353 

when full-sized, they prepare to spin. You may know that 
this time is reached by their refusal to eat, and you must then 
make a little paper toilet, about two inches deep, for each 
worm, and drop it in. You have now nothing to do (except 
to watch the worms regularly) for some weeks, in which time 
the cocoon has been finished and the worm has become a 
chrysalis. When the chrysalis inside the cocoon rattles the 
time has come to wind the silk, or the moth will shortly 
emerge and eat it. The outside of the cocoon is useless and 
can be removed by placing the cocoon in warm water. Once 
that is out of the way, the silk can be wound on a card. 
The moth soon afterward appears and, after growing to its 
full size, lays its eggs — some two hundred — and dies. It 
must be remembered that with silkworms a little practical 
demonstration from any one who has kept them is worth 
much more than many pages of hints. One thing is of the 
highest importance, and that is constant attention. Silk- 
worms must never be neglected. 

Other Caterpillars 
Silkworms are more useful but not more interesting than 
many other caterpillars which can be hatched from eggs. The 
Privet Hawk Moth, for example, is very easily bred, and a 
very beautiful creature it is when in full plumage. But for 
information on this subject you must go to more scientific 
books. 

Pigeons 
Pigeons are not exactly pets, for they rarely do more than 
come to you for their food, just as chickens do, but they are 
beautiful creatures and no country roof is quite complete with- 
out them, and a dove-cot is a very pretty and homely old- 
fashioned object. Usually, however, the birds are given a 
portion of a loft. Whatever the nature of their home, it 



354 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW *? 

must have separate compartments for each pair of pigeons and 
must be warm. If a loft is used there should be sand or gravel 
on the floor, with a little lime to assist the formation of the 
shells of the pigeons' eggs. The place should be kept clean, 
and you must guard against rats and cats. Pigeons eat peas 
and pigeons'-beans and most kinds of grain. If they fly loose 
they will find out other food, such as green meat, for them- 
selves. But if you keep them at home you ought to give them 
some. They should have a dish of water in a regular place. 
New pigeons should be shut up by wiring in their house for a 
fortnight before you give them their liberty, or they will fly 
away. They do not care for hay or straw in their boxes, but 
will make a nest in their own way when they need one. 
Pigeons are of many kindsf^ the commonest of which is per- 
haps the Eunt, and the prettiest a white Fantail. Any one 
who takes up pigeons except merely for the pleasure of own- 
ing one or two should read up the subject carefully. 

Doves 

Doves, which are happier when kept in pairs, require the 
same food as pigeons. As a rule they are kept in wicker 
cages. They are not very interesting. 

Parrots 
Parrots are most companionable pets, and, next to a dog, 
quite the most interesting and intelligent. They are always 
cheerful : whistling, singing, and talking. The gray parrot is 
the best talker, and speaks much more distinctly than any 
other kind, but the Blue-fronted Amazon is more amusing and 
far better-tempered as a rule. These birds are very beautiful, 
with bright green plumage and touches of yellow and red, 
and a blue patch on the forehead. The best food for parrots 
is parrot seed, on which they may be fed entirel}^, and they 
should never be allowed dainties except nuts, fruit, and a little 



PETS 355 

piece of sugar. In the summer time sprinkle your parrot with 
water through a fine hose every morning, but in the winter 
do so only when he asks for a bath by trying to get into the 
water basin. As to talking, parrots will pick up far more 
readily any words they hear by accident than any that you 
set yourself to teach them. They will also get by heart in 
this way a few bars of a whistled tune. When parrots are 
apparently spiteful it often proceeds much more from nervous- 
ness than from vice. If frightened they will peck anything 
near them. It is important to have a thick baize cover for 
your parrot's cage, and to put this over it directly the lamps 
are lit. 

Smaller Cage Birds 
Before coming to the different kinds of birds which you 
can keep, a few general words about their care ought to be 
said. Remember that with them, as with all pets, the most 
important of all rules is perfect cleanliness. The best cages 
are wooden ones with unpainted wires, and the perches should 
be of different thicknesses, as, if they are all one size, the bird 
is likely to get cramp in his feet. Once in a week at least the 
perches and tray should be scrubbed with very hot water with 
soda in it, but they must be dried thoroughly before they are 
put back into the cage ; therefore if possible it is best to have 
two sets of perches and to use them alternately. A thick 
layer of red sand or shell gravel should be sprinkled on the 
tray, and occasionally a pinch of maw-seed thrown on it. 

Baths 
All birds should have a bath given them. They like best 
a shallow glass dish, which should be put in the cage when 
the tray is out. It is a good plan to put a biscuit-tin lid on 
the floor of the cage to prevent the bird from making the 
woodwork wet. Other rules in the care of all birds are — 



356 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

never let them be in a draught, but do not keep them in a 
very vrarm place. Cover them with a white cloth at night, 
and in cold weather put a shawl over that. 



Food 
Seed-eating birds do best if they are fed on canary seed 
and a little summer rape, with now and then a few hemp- 
seeds, some Hartz mountain bread, and a bit of groundsel or 
water-cress that has been well washed. If they look dull and 
sit in a puffed-up little heap, a drop of brandy in their water 
often does good ; and, should they show signs of asthma, try 
chopped, hard-boiled egg, with a few grains of cayenne 
pepper, and a bit of saffron or a rusty nail in the water. 
These are also good when the bird is moulting. For insect- 
eating birds you must buy meal-worms and ants' eggs, and 
thrushes and blackbirds need earth-worms as well. 

Tricks 
Some birds are easily taught tricks. We remember a red- 
poll who would draw his water up from a well in the cage in 
a little bucket ; but if you teach your bird to do this you must 
be careful to watch him, in case the string gets twisted and 
the bucket does not reach the water, when your pet will suffer 
terribly from thirst. He will also learn to pull his seed-box 
up an inclined board if you put it day by day a little farther 
from him, so that he must draw the string to get his food. 
It is better to take a long time in training birds, and tempt 
them with any dainty they care most for, such as water-cress, 
groundsel, chickweed, or hemp-seed, as otherwise you must 
starve the bird first, or he will not trouble to get the seed. 
This means a certain amount of cruelty and cannot be 
rifirht. 



PETS 357 

Canaries 

The favorite cage-bird is the canary, which, though a 
foreign bird, is kept in this country in greater numbers than 
any other bird, and is also bred here. One has to be very 
well posted up in the nature of the bird to be protected 
against deception when buying it ; and you ought therefore, 
in getting a canary, to find some one competent to buy what 
you want. 

Canaries must be kept carefully. They cannot stand 
much air. Be particular that the cage does not hang in a 
draught, and let it be large enough for comfort. When even- 
ing comes it is kinder to take the cage out of a room in which 
there will be much light and noise, and put it somewhere dark 
and quiet, as the air of a room where gas is burned is not 
good for it. But if moving the cage is not convenient, lower 
it to a position below the level of the burners and cover it up 
with a thick cloth. By day the cage should be hung in the 
sunshine if possible, but if the sun is very hot a green gauze 
cover ought to protect the bird a little. If the bird's singing 
is too lusty — as sometimes happens — a handkerchief thrown 
over the cage will check it ; but this seems rather hard treat- 
ment. 

In feeding canaries follow the rules on p. 356, but you 
may put a lump of sugar between the bars now and then, or 
a sprig of groundsel or water-cress. Do not give them cake ; 
it is no real kindness. 

When they are moulting, canaries (and other birds too) 
need rather more attention. Give them a little richer food, 
such as chopped-up eggs, and put some saffron in the water. 
There is a kind of insect called the red mite which often 
attacks canaries. It is not the rule by any means that canaries 
should be thus troubled — many escape — but it may happen. 
If you cannot account for the bird's despondency in any other 



358 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

way, catch it and look at its skin under the feathers of the 
breast and the under part of the wings. If there are little red 
spots, it means that the red mites have found out the cage, 
and you must wash the bird every day with a weak solution 
of white precipitate powder — about twelve grains to a small 
glass of warm water — and either wash the cage too with a 
stronger solution, or, if it is a wooden one, destroy it. !N^ow 
and then you ought to clip their claws, if they seem too long. 

The Love-Birds 
The love-birds feed almost entirely on millet or canary 
seed, and they like a sod of grass in their cage. They are 
bright little birds, but are naturally very wild and need much 
petting if you wish to tame them. Once tamed, however, 
they are very confiding and amusing. 

The Cardinal 
One of the most beautiful of cage-birds is the red-crested 
cardinal. He is quite hardy and eats seeds and insects im- 
partially, thriving on canary, millet, and a little hemp-seed, 
with meal-worms now and then. He should always have a 
very large cage, or he will spoil his plumage. His song is 
sweet and strong. 

Wax-Bills 
Wax-bills eat millet-seed, canary seed, and a little soaked 
bread and sponge-cake. 

Other Foreign Birds 
Java sparrows are pretty creatures, although they do very 
little for you. Perhaps the most attractive of small foreign 
birds is the avadavat, a tiny, perky little soldier. These live 
quite comfortably together; and indeed, if it is permitted, 
you should certainly, for the non-singing birds, have a large 



PETS 359 

cage and keep many such birds in it rather than put them in 
small cages. They will be far happier. 

The Chaffinch 
The chaffinch has to re-learn his song every spring, and 
for a fortnight or more you will hear him trying his voice 
very sweetly and softly, but as soon as he has acquired his 
song in perfection, it will be so strong and piercing that on 
fine days he often has to be banished from the sitting-room. 
He should not, however, be exposed too much to sun and 
wind ; a cloth thrown over half the cage will make a shelter. 
The chaffinch is another bird that should never be put in a 
bell-shaped cage. He should occasionally have flies and other 
insects given him. He is lively and hardy and a very gay 
companion. 

The Goldfinch 
We remember a goldfinch that became very tame, perch- 
ing on his owner's hands and taking seed from her lips. 
Goldfinches should never be kept in bell-shaped cages — 
which make them giddy — but should have one with a square 
flat top. Along this they will run head downward. They 
are such active birds that they need plenty of space. They 
chatter all day long and are very cheery, and they are very 
beautiful in their brown, gold, and scarlet coats. In a wild 
state the goldfinch feeds chiefly on the seeds of weeds and 
thistles, groundsel, and dandelion, and he is therefore a friend 
to the farmer, but in captivity he will thrive on canary and 
German rape with several hemp-seeds daily, and now and 
then lettuce, thistle-seed, and fruit. 

The Bullfinch 
The bullfinch is squarely ouilt, with a black head and 
pink breast. No bird can be more affectionate and intelligent. 



360 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

He will learn to pipe tunes if you put him in the dark and 
whistle a few bars of some easy melody to him over and over 
again ; and he soon gets a number of fascinating tricks. 
After a while you will be able to let him out of the cage at 
meal-times, when he will hop about from plate to plate and 
steal little tit-bits. No bird is so fond of sitting on its 
owner's shoulder as the bullfinch can be. Also, unhappily, 
few birds are so liable to fatal illness. A bullfinch can be 
apparently quite well one minute and the next you find him 
lying at the bottom of the cage. Over-eating is often the 
cause of his death, so that one must be careful. Hemp-seed 
and apple-pips, for instance, which he loves, should be given 
in moderation. Kape and millet, lettuce and ripe fruit suit 
him best. Gardeners are great enemies of this sturdy little 
bird on account of the damage he does amongst fruit-trees, 
but he probably does a great deal more good than he does 
harm by eating insects which are fatal to plants. 

The Yellow Bunting 
The yellow bunting (or yellow hammer) can be a pet ; 
and he has the sweetest little whispering song. If you have 
a caged bunting, his seed should be soaked in cold water for 
some hours before it is given to him, and he must have the 
yoke of a hard-boiled egg, meal-worms, ants' eggs, and any 
insects you can catch for him. He must also have plenty of 
opportunities for bathing, and as much fresh air without 
draughts as possible. 

The Blackbird 
The blackbird is delicate when caged and must have 
plenty of nutritious food, bread and milk, boiled vegetables, 
ripe fruit, insects, and snails. He is a thirsty bird and needs 
plenty of water. 



i 



PETS 361 

Birds of all kinds especially like cocoanut (though they 
will come to the window-sill simply for bread crumbs). The 
cocoanut should be sawn in two, and a hole bored through 
each half, about an inch from the edge. A strong string is 
then threaded in and they are hung from the bough of a tree. 
They should be hung rather high up, on a bough reaching as 
far out from the trunk as possible, so as to avoid all risk from 
the cat. The birds frequent elm-trees more than any others, 
because the rough bark contains many insects, but you may 
choose any kind of tree, as close to your windows as you like. 
The birds will keep pecking at the cocoanut all day long and 
will soon want a new one. If you have no tree near the 
house you might fasten a cord across the outer frame of your 
window and tie the pieces of nut to that. The birds would 
soon find out the cocoa-nut and come to it, and bread crumbs 
could also be put on the window-sill to attract them. Or, if 
you have a veranda, they could be hung up there, if you 
could make them safe from the cat. Mrs. Earle, in her book 
More Pot-Pourri fro'in a Surrey Garden^ gives elaborate 
directions for an arrangement in a veranda or balcony of 
cocoanuts, etc., for the birds. Lumps of fat will do as well 
as cocoanut. Some birds also greatly love a bone to pick at 
— an uncooked one with plenty of fat on it, which the butcher 
will probably be glad to give you if you ask him and explain 
its purpose. It can be hung up in a tree or merely laid on 
the window-sill. 

The Robin 
In the ordinary way one would not keep robins at all. 
They are so tame and fond of the company of human beings 
that they will come regularly to the door for crumbs every 
morning and never be far off at any time. But if a wounded 
robin is found or a nest is abandoned (probably owing to the 



362 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

death of the mother at the cat's hands) just before the young 
birds are ready to fly, you might pop them in a cage. They 
do not often thrive long in captivity, even if the confinement 
does not seem irksome, but to keep one until it was strong 
enough to be let loose would be a kindness. Still there have 
been many cases of happy tame robins. The best food for 
them is bread crumbs, grated carrot, yoke of egg and sponge- 
cake mixed together, the carrot making the mixture moist 
enough. A few insects daily are advisable. Robins are such 
quarrelsome birds that it is impossible to keep two of them in 
an aviary, or even to keep one robin with birds weaker than 
himself. Perhaps the best way to treat a pet robin is to let 
him fly all over the house in the winter. He may one day fly 
away altogether in the spring, but if he is alive he is almost 
certain to come back again when the cold weather begins. 

Garden Robins 

Robins in the garden are so pretty, so cheeky, so sweetly 
musical, and are so friendly to man (in spite of their arrogance 
and selfishness among birds) that they ought to be encouraged. 
As the only way of encouraging wild birds is to feed them, 
we have to try and give them what they like best. Robins 
are quite content with bread crumbs only. They will eat sop 
if they can get nothing else ; but they prefer crumbs, and not 
too dry. For an especial treat they like fat bacon beyond 
everything : cooked bacon, that has been boiled, not fried. 
It should be mixed up yevy small, and the bread also crumbled 
into tiny . morsels, for robins like to eat very nicely and 
daintily. Robins are pleased to have crumbs given them all 
the seasons through, though in the autumn they can very well 
take care of themselves. 

Each robin has his own special domain, which any other 
robin invades at his peril. The robins that come to the 



PETS 363 

window for food are those that belong to that particular 
side of the house and no other. This means that there 
are other robins in different parts of the garden which 
will have to be fed in their own special localities. You 
will soon find out where these are, even if you have 
not already been guided to them by their songs. Kobins 
like their food scattered always in the same place, or 
under the same tree, and, as nearly as you can, at the 
same time. Then you will find them on the lookout for 
you, and if you take always the same basket (a rather shallow 
flat one which stands firmly) and, putting it on the ground, 
go a few steps away, you will see them hop into it. After a 
few days they will probably get tame enough to come into 
the basket w^hile it is in your hand; only you must have a 
little patience at first, and hold it very still, and of course 
you must not have previously scattered any food on the 
ground. 

Birds in the Garden 

This brings us to the other garden birds which we have 
no wish to put in cages, but which it is well to be as kind to 
as possible. In winter, when there is a frost, to feed them is 
absolutely necessary; but at all times it is well that the}'' 
should know that you are not enemies (of which they have so 
many), but their friends. The following notes, together with 
the foregoing passage on feeding robins, on birds in the gar- 
den have been prepared for this book : — 

"Birds are grateful all the year through for a shallow 
pan of water, which they can drink from and use also as a 
bath. And the bees, too, will be glad to come and get a sip 
of water, for they also are thirsty things. A small round 
yellow earthenware pan is excellent for the thrushes and 
blackbirds, but it is as well to provide a smaller one, say an 



364 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

ordinary shallow pie-dish, for the robins and little birds. 
These should be refilled twice a day, at least, in summer time. 
You can place the pans on the grass or path, where you can 
see them comfortably from the house, but not nearer than 
you can help, because the blackbirds are rather shy, and it 
would be a pity to make drinking too great an adventure for 
them. 

" Birds are thankful for a little feeding right through the 
spring, both when the mother bird is sitting on the nest and 
the father has to forage for two, and when the young ones 
are hatched and there are at once many more mouths to fill. 
In the summer too, if it should be unduly wet and cold, or 
unduly hot and dry, and grubs and insects scarce, the young 
birds are pleased to find a meal ready for them. But in the 
winter it is a positive duty to feed the birds ; for remember 
that when the ground is covered with snow, or frozen hard, 
they can get no insects, and thus, after all the berries have 
gone, they will starve unless they are helped with other food. 

*' Almost every household has enough waste scraps, if 
they are collected carefully, to give the birds a good meal 
once a day. Bread, of course, will form the chief part, but 
nothing comes amiss to them, however tiny. Morsels of suet, 
dripping, shreds of fat, meat, and fish, and cheese rind also, 
all mixed up together, are an especial treat. The mince 
should be well mixed with the bread crumbs, or all may not 
get a fair share. Crusts, or any hard, dry bits of bread, can 
be scalded into sop (though, unlike chickens, wild birds do 
not seem to like it hot), and a little piece of dripping or fat, 
soaked with the sop, makes it more tasty for them. If the 
supply of bread be short, the birds will be very pleased with 
chickens' rice. It should be the ' second quality ' kind, in the 
brown husk, which can be procured from most corn-dealers. 
But this is hardly necessary excepting in a long hard frost. 



PETS 365 

Starlings are especially fond of bones, and they will esteem it 
a favor if any which have been used in making soup, and are 
not required for the dog, are thrown out to them on the 
ground. Their joyous chattering over them is quite cheer- 
ing, even on the dreariest winter's day. They are also grate- 
ful for the rind of a ham or piece of bacon, after it has been 
boiled. This should be thrown out to them whole, not cut up 
in little pieces. They are equally fond of the bones and skin 
remains of a * dried ' haddock. 

" For the bolder birds, such as robins, you will like to 
put some food on the window-sills, and also on the path or 
grass close to the house. But remember the more timid ones, 
and scatter it in other parts of the garden as well. 

" Sparrows, of course, deserve their food as well as any of 
the others; but it is rather hard to see them taking every 
morning much more than their share, while the less coura- 
geous or impudent birds (who also sing to you) get none. It 
seems impossible to prevent this, though Mr. Phil. Robinson, 
in his book Garden^ Orchard^ and Spinney (in the chapter 
entitled ' The Famine in my Garden ' ), recommends scatter- 
ing some oatmeal mixed with a few bread crumbs on one side 
of the house, to keep the sparrows occupied, whilst you feed • 
the other birds elsewhere. Sparrows, however, have a way 
of being on every side of the house at once. Still, if you feed 
your birds daily, and as nearly at the same time as possible 
(they like it as soon as may be after your own breakfast), you 
will find them on the lookout for you, and they will manage 
to get a good share, if they all start fair, in spite of the spar- 
rows. In a hard frost they are thankful for a second meal, 
but it should not be later than two o'clock, because birds go 
to bed very early in cold weather, and the food would be 
frozen too hard for them to be able to eat it next morning. 

" One word more. There is great danger of birds being 



366 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

caught by a cat while they are busy with their food, especially 
if near the bushes. The only possible protection against this 
which you can take is to see that your own cat is indoors and 
is therefore not the offender." 



READING 



I 




Reading {Facing pafjo SOS) 



READING 

ALL persons who care very much for reading will find 
their way naturally to the books most likely to please 
them ; left alone in a library they are never disap- 
pointed. For them no advice is necessary. Kor is advice im- 
portant to those who have opportunities to compare notes on 
reading with friends who have similar tastes. For instance, 
two boys may fall to talking of books. " Have you read 
Bmid Balfour f one will say. "No; who's it by?" 
" Stevenson." " What else did he write ? " " Well, he wrote 
Treasure Island^ " I 've read that. If David Balfour is 
anything like that, I must get it." He gets it ; and thus, 
either by asking others whose taste he can trust, or by going 
steadily on through each author who satisfies him, he will 
always have as much good reading as he needs. 

But there are still other readers — who have no real in- 
stinct for books, or no memory for authors' names, or few 
opportunities of comparing notes — for whom a list of books 
that are worth trying, books which have been tested and 
found all right by thousands of readers, ought to be very use- 
ful. In the following pages a list of this kind has been drawn 
up. It is very far indeed from anything like completeness — 
many good authors are not mentioned at all, and others have 
written many more books than are here placed under their 
names — but those chosen are in most cases their best, and it will 
be very easy for readers who want more to find out other titles. 
The books named are for the most part not new. But before 
children read new books they read old ; the new ones 
come later. What is suggested here is a ground-work. 
Moreover, there are so many ways for new books to suggest 



370 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



themselves that to attempt the impossible task of keeping 
pace with them here was unnecessary. 

Girls are such steady readers of what are called boys' 
books, and boys are occasionally so much interested in what 
are called girls' books, that the two groups have not been 
separated. All that has been done is to describe the nature 
of each division of stories. 



Fairy Tales 
Nearly all the best old fairy tales are to be found in Mr. 
Andrew Lang's collections, of which six are mentioned : — 

The Blue Fairy Book The Green Fairy Book. 

The Red Fairy Book. The Yellow Fairy Book. 

The Pink Fairy Book. The Orange Fairy Book. 

Many families do very well with merely 

Grimm's Fairy Tales. Andersen's Fairy Tales. 

The Arabian Nights. ^sop's Fables. 

These are traditional. First favorites among English whim- 
sical tales are, of course, 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland . . By Lewis Carroll. 
Through the Looking-glass . . . <« <« << 

of which there is no need to speak, nor of 



The Water-Babies .... 
The King of the Golden River . 
The Rose and the Ring 

And among other good stories are — 

Fairy Tales 
Mopsa the Fairy 
Prince Prigio 
The Gold of Fairnilee 
Twenty Best Fairy Tales 
The Bee-Man of Orn . 
The Clocks of Rondaine 
Old-Fashioned Fairy Tales 



By Charles Kingsley. 
" John Ruskin. 
*• W. M. Thackeray. 



By Alexandre Dumas. 
Jean Ingelow. 

Andrew Lang. 

(( (( 

Lucy Perkins. 
Frank R. Stockton. 



Mrs. Ewing. 



READING 



371 



Lewis Carroll's " Bruno's Kevenge," the story which was 
the beginning of Sylvie and Bruno, is perfect in its way. 

Legendary Tales 



Classical 



The Heroes .... 
A Wonder Book 
Tanglewood Tales . 
The Story of the Odyssey 
The Story of the Iliad . 
Stories from Homer 

Romantic 

The Morte D' Arthur . 

Tales from Shakespeare . 

Puck of Pook's Hill 

Stories from the Faerie Queen 

Heroes of Chivalry and Romance . 

Stories of the Magicians 

Olaf the Glorious .... 

Robin Hood . . . . 

Men of Iron 

Canterbury Tales .... 

Robin Hood : His Deeds and Adventures, 

Ballads in Prose .... 

Forgotten Tales of Long Ago 

Old Fashioned Tales 

Tales from Maria Edgeworth. Intro- 
duction 

Tales from the Canterbury Pilgrims. 
Retold 

The Book of King Arthur 

Midsummer Night's Dream for Young 
People 

The Wonder Book of Old Romance. 



By Charles Kingsley. 
*' Nathaniel Hawthorne. 

" Rev. A. J. Church. 



By Sir T. Malory. 
" Charles and Mary Lamb. 
" Rudyard Kipling. 
" Mary Macleod. 
" Rev. A. J. Church. 

*' Robert Leighton. 
" Hov^rard Pyle. 

'* Chaucer. 
" Lucy Perkins. 
" Mary Macleod. 
" E. V. Lucas. 



" Austin DobsoD. 

" J. H. Darton. 
*' Mary Macleod. 

" Lucy Perkins. 



Here also we might place Gulliver^s Travels. 

Verse and Poetry 
Our first acquaintance with poetry is made through nurs- 
ery rhymes. Many collections of nursery rhymes may be 



372 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^ 

had. And there are also a number of very charming picture 
books of simple verse, suitable for small readers, such as Miss 
Kate Greena way's 

Mother Goose. Under the Window. 

Marigold Garden. A. Apple Pie. 

Mr. Walter Crane's 

Baby's Opera, Baby's Bouquet, 

and various toy books. 

Four favorite books of comic verse are Edward Lear's 

Book of Nonsense. More Nonsense. 

Nonsense, Songs and Stories. 

Four books, more recent, which come nearer to poetry than 
anything already mentioned, are — 

Verses for Children ... By Mrs. Ewing. 

Sing Song *' Christina G. Eossetti. 

Lilliput Lyrics . . . . " W. B. Rands. 

A Child's Garden of Verses . . " R. L. Stevenson. 

A large collection of verse of the kind already described, with 
the addition of ballads, open-air rhymes, animal verses and 
other matter — intended to pave the way to real poetry — 
exists in 

A Book of Verses for Children. 
Another Book of Verses for Children, 

compiled by E. Y. Lucas. After these, we come to collections 
containing real poetry, two excellent ones being 

The Blue Poetry Book .... By Andrew Lang. 
A First [Second and Third] Poetry Book, ** M. A. Woods. 

There is also 

Lyra Heroica By W. E. Henley, 

a collection for boys. Selections from Tennyson, Browning, 
and other poets, intended for children, have been made, but 
most young explorers of poetry like to have the complete 



READING 373 

works and hunt for themselves. Other popular books of 
poetry are — 

The Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics. 
Poems Every Child Should know. 

Mr. C. R. D. Patmore's Children's Garland from the Best Poets. 
Miss Agnes Eepplier's Book of Famous Verse. 
H. E. Scudder's American Poems. 

The " Original Poems," and Others . By Jane and Ann Taylor. 
National Rhymes for the Nursery . " George Saintsbury. 
The Ballad Book . . . . " W. AUingham. 
Lays of Ancient Rome . . . " Lord Macaulay. 
Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers . . " W. E. Aytoun. 
The Percy Reliques. A Thousand and One Gems of Poetry. 

Scott. Longfellow. Hood. 

Many boys also like the humorous stories in Bar ham's 
Ingoldshy Legends, 

Books About Children 
To this section, which is suited more particularly for 
girls, belong a large number of stories of a very popular kind : 
stories describing the ordinary life of children of to-day, with 
such adventures as any of us can have near home. Years ago 
the favorites were — 

The Fairchild Family . . .By Mrs. Sherwood. 

Sandford and Merton . . , , '* Thomas Day. 

But these are not read as they used to be, partly because taste 
has changed, and partly because so many other books can now 
be procured. But fifty and more years ago they were in 
every nursery library. 

The Swiss Family Robinson, 

the most famous family book of all, will be found in the ad- 
venture section, to which perhaps really belong 

Feats on the Fiord, The Settlers at Home, 

by Harriet Martineau, although these two, and 
The Crofton Boys 



374 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

may be included here. Here also belong Maria Edgeworth's 

Moral Tales for Young People, The Parent's Assistant, 

which, although their flavor is old-fashioned, are yet as inter- 
esting as ever they were. 

Another writer whose popularity is no longer what it was 
is Jacob Abbott, the author of a number of fascinating stories 
of home life (on farms and in the country) in America in the 
middle of last century. The Franconia stories are these : — 



Beechnut. 


Mary Erskine. 


Wallace. 


Mary Bell. 


Madeline. 


Stuyvesant. 


Caroline. 


Agnes. 



And this is the EoUo series, intended by Mr. Abbott for rather 
younger readers ; — 

The Little Scholar Learning to Talk, Rollo at Work. 

Eollo Learning to Read. Eollo at School. 

Eollo at Play. EoUo's Vacation. 

A list of other books, which come more or less rightly 
under the head of " Stories about Children " follows, the 
earlier ones being better suited to younger readers, and the 
later ones to older, the age aimed at in this chapter (and 
indeed in the whole book), ranging from five to fifteen. 

By Kate Douglas "Wiggin : — 

Polly Oliver's Problem. Timothy's Quest. 

By Louisa M. Alcott : — 

Little Women. Little Men. 

Good Wives. Jo's Boys. 

Eight Cousins. An Old-Fashioned Girl. 

Eose in Bloom. Aunt Jo's Scrap Bag. 

Spinning-Wheel Stories. Comic Tragedies. 

The Little Pepper Series, and the Elsie Books. 



READING 



375 



By Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett : — 



Little Lord Fauntleroy. 
Editha's Burglar. 

By Mrs. Whitney : — 

We Girls. 

Faith Gartney's Girlhood. 



The Captain's Youngest. 
Sara Crew. 



The Gay worthys. 
Leslie Goldthwaite. 



By Gelett Burgess : — 

Goops, and How to be Them. Goop Tales. 

More Goops, and How Not to be Them. The Lively City o'Ligg. 

The Burgess Nonsense Book. 

This section is necessarily more incomplete than any of 
the others, since it is impossible to keep pace with the great 
number of stories of this kind which are published every 
Christmas. But a few more may be added : — 



Stories Told to a Child 

The Lost Child 

Helen's Babies 

The Treasure-Seekers 

Holiday House 

Deeds of Daring done by Girls 

Children of Other Days 

Paleface and Redskin 

The Silver Skates . 

Molly and Oily 

Sweetheart Travelers 

Sir Toady Crusoe . 

Sir Toady Lion 

No Relations 

Jogging 'Round the World 

A Little Daughter of the Revolution 

A Little Colonial Dame . 

The House of the Red Fox 

The Would-be Witch 

Little Barefoot 

Indian Boys and Girls 

Japanese Child Life 

Little Japs at Home 

Jap Boys and Girls 



By Jean Ingelow. 
" Henry Kingsley. 
" John Habberton. 
" E. Nesbit. 
" Catherine Sinclair. 
" N. Hudson Moore. 

*' F. Anstey. 

" M. M. Dodge. 

** Mrs. Humphry Ward. 

*' S. R. Crockett. 



" Hector Malot. 
*' Edith Dunham. 

" Agnes Sage. 

(< <( (( 

** Miriam Byrne. 

a u n 

From the German of Anerbaoh. 
By Alice Haines. 



376 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 

According to Grandma . . . .By Alice Haines. 
"When Grandma was Little . . . " " " 
"What Grandma Says . . , . " " " 

Here also belong many of the stories of Miss Yonge, and we 
might perhaps place Uncle Tom's Cabin here too. 

Boy and Schoolboy Stories 
In this section are placed stories of modern boys, either 
at home or at school, and their ordinary home or school ad- 
ventures. Among the best are — 

Tom Sawyer . . By Mark Twain. 

and 

Bevis . . . By Richard Jefferies. 

Others are — 



The story of a Bad Boy 

My Boyhood 

The Swan and her Crew 

Captain Chap 

The Tinkham Brothers' Tidemill 



By T. B. Aldrich. 
" H. C. Barkley. 
" G. C. Davies. 
" Frank R. Stockton. 
" J. T. Trowbridge. 



The best school story will probably always be 

Tom Brown's School Days . . By T. Hughes. 

Among the books of this kind meant rather for grown- 
up readers, but read also by boys, are — 

Huckleberry Fin . . . .By Mark Twain. 
Frank Fairlegh . . . . '* F. E. Smedley. 
The Interpreter . . , . " Whyte Melville, 
The Human Boy . . . . " Eden Phillpota. 
ViceVers4 " F. Anstey. 

Adventure Stories 
This is the largest group of books usually described as 
" for boys," although girls often read them too with hardly 
less interest. The first place in this class will probably al- 
ways be held by Defoe's 

Robinson Crusoe, 



READING 377 

and it is likely that most votes for second place would go to 

The Swiss Family Robinson. 

After these we come to modern authors whose books have 
been written especially for boys, first among whom is the late 
Mr. E. M. Ballantyne, the author of, among numerous other 
books, 

The Coral Island. The Iron Horse. 

The Gorilla Hunters. Fighting the Flames. 

The Dog Crusoe. Erling the Bold. 

The Pirate City. Martin Rattler. 

Ungava. The Fur Traders. 

The Wild Man of the West. The Red Man's Revenge. 

Many of Ballantyne's readers make a point of going through 
the whole series of his books. The other titles can be col- 
lected from the advertisement pages at the end of these 
volumes. With R. M. Ballantyne is usually associated the 
name of the late W. H. G. Kingston ('' Kingston and Ballan- 
tyne the brave," Stevenson called them in the verses at the 
beginning of Treasure Island^ another book which comes 
high in this section). Kingston's stories were also very num- 
erous, but it will serve our purpose here to mention only the 
following six : — 

Peter the Whaler, The Three Commanders, 

The Three Midshipmen. The Three Admirals. 

The Three Lieutenants. From Powder-Monkey to Admiral. 

Several authors have carried on Ballantyne and Kingston's 
work. Chief among these are Mr. G. A. Henty and Mr. 
G. Manville Fenn. Here are six of Mr. G. A. Henty's 
stories : — 

Out on the Pampas. In the Heart of the Rockies. 

The Young Colonists. Maori and Settler. 

The Young Franc-Tireurs. Redskin and Cowboy. 



378 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



And here are eight of Mr. G. Manville Fenn's : — 

Brownsmith's Boy. The Golden Magnet. 

Bunyip Land. Fix Bay 'nets. 

Bevon Boys. Jungle and Stream. 

Dick o' the Fens. Menhardoc. 



Mr. Max Pemberton, author of 

The Iron Pirate. 

" Q." (Mr. Quiller Couch), author of 

Dead Man's Rock. 

and Mr. David Kerr, author of 

The Boy Slave in Bokhara 
Lost Among the White Africans. 
The Wild Horseman of the Pampas 



The Impregnable City. 

The Silver Spur. 

Cossack and Czar. 
Old Tartar Deserts. 
Prisoner among Pirates. 



Jules Yerne is a French writer, but his stories have al- 
ways quickly been translated into English, many of them by 
Mr. Henry Frith. Their titles are a good guide to their subject, 
for Jules Yerne goes to science for some wonderful invention, 
such as a submarine boat or a flying machine, and then sur- 
rounds it with extraordinary adventures. Among his best 
books are — 



Twenty Thousand Leagues under 

the Sea. 
Eound the World in Eighty Days. 
Five Weeks in a Balloon. 
The English at the North Pole. 



The Clipper of the Clouds. 
From the Earth to the Moon. 
The Mysterious Island. 
A Journey to the Centre of the 
Earth. 



First of English inventors of fantastic stories of adven- 
ture is Mr. Eider Haggard. His three most popular books 
are — 

King Solomon's Mines. She. Allan Quatermain. 

The books already named, with the exception of Robin- 
son Crusoe^ were written especially for boys. Other books 
which were not so intended, but have come to be read more 



READING 379 

by boys than any one else, include Fenimore Cooper's Indian 
stories, of which these are four : — 

The Last of the Mohicans. The Deerslayer. 

The Pathfinder. The Bee Hunters. 

Other Indian stories are those of Gustave Aimard, translated 
from the French, among which are these : — 

The Last of the Incas. The Gold-Seekers. 

The Trail Hunter. The Red River Half-Speed. 

The Indian Scout. The Border Rifles. 

The Trappers of Arkansas. 

These are, of course, North American tales. Other l^orth 
American tales are those of Captain Mayne Keid, which in- 
clude — 

The Boy Hunters. The Desert Home. 

The Boy Slaves. The Forest Exiles. 

Bruin, or The Grand Bear Hunter. The Giraffe Hunters. 

The Bush Boys. The Headless Horseman. 

The Castaways. The Rifle Rangers. 

The White Chief. The Scalp Hunters. 

In this section belong the books of Mr. George Bird Grinnell, 
author of 

Jack in the Rockies Jack Among the Indians. 

Jack, the Young Ranchman. Jack, the Young Canoeman. 
Jack, the Young Trapper. 

Also Harold Bindloss' 

The Young Traders. 

And to this section belong also stories of the sea, several of 
which have already been mentioned. High among these are 
Captain Marryat's 

Poor Jack, Masterman Ready, 

together with many of his tales intended originally for older 
readers, such as 

Jacob Faithful. Peter Simple. 

Mr. Midshipman Easy. Snarleyyow. 



38o 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



Mr. Clark Eussell's stories : — 

The Wreck of the *'Grosvenor." 
The Golden Hope. 

Here also belong Mr. Kipling's 

Captains Courageous, 
and an old sea favorite — 

Two Years Before the Mast 
Other good sea books, not fiction : — 

My First Voyage 

The Voyage of the " Sunbeam " 
The Cruise of the " Cachalot " . 
The Cruise of the " Falcon '' 



An Ocean Free-Lance. 
The Frozen Pirate. 



By E. H. Dana. 



By W. Stones. 
" Lady Brassey. 
** F. T. Bullen. 
" E. F. Knight. 



Historical Stories for Boys 
New historical stories are published in great numbers 
every year. The most popular author of this kind of book 
for boys is Mr. G. A. Henty, among whose very numerous 
historical tales, all good, are — 

At Aboukir and Acre. The Lion of St. Mark. 

At Agincourt. Maori and Settler. 

Bonnie Prince Charlie. St. Bartholomew's Eve. 

By Right of Conquest, Under Drake's Flag. 

The Dash for Khartoum. With Clive in India. 

In the Reign of Terror. With Frederick the Great. 

With Moore at Corunna. With Lee in Virginia. 

By Eev. A. J. Church — 



The Chantry Priest of Barnet. 
The Count of the Saxon Shore. 

Other good historical tales : — 

Stories from Froissart 

The Scottish Chiefs . 

The Children of the New Forest 

A Monk of Fife 

Grettir the Outlaw . 



Stories from English History. 
With the King at Oxford. 



By Henry Newbolt. 
" Jane Porter. 
" Captain Marryat. 
" Andrew Lang. 
" Baring Gould. 



READING 



381 



The Story of Burnt Njal 
Loriia Doone 
in Old Egypt . 
An Island Story 
Scotland's Story 

By E. L. Stevenson — 
The Black Arrow. 

By Charles Kingsley — 
Hereward the Wake. 

By Conan Doyle — 

Micah Clarke 



By Sir George Dasent. 
*' R. D. Blackmore. 
" H. P. Mendes. 
" H. E. Marshall. 



Kidnapped. 



David Balfour. 



Westward Ho! 



The White Company. 



The Refugees. 



By Stanley J. Weyman — 

The House of the Wolf. 
Under the Red Robe. 

By Mr. Andrew Balfour — 

By Stroke of Sword. 

By Mark Train — 

The Prince and the Pauper. 

There are also historical stories more particularly in- 
tended by their authors for grown-up readers, but which boys 
and girls can, however, find quite interesting enough, even if 
much has to be skipped. First among these are Sir "Walter 
Scott's novels : — 



The Man in Black. 

A Gentleman of France. 



To Arms ! 



Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc. 



Ivanhoe. 
Kenilworth. 
Woodstock. 
Quentin Durward. 

Other writers and books follow. 

The Three Musketeers. 

Twenty Years After. 

The Vicomte de Brageleonne. 



Rob Eoy. 
The Abbot. 
The Monastery. 
The Talisman. 

By Alexandre Dumas — 

Marguerite de Valois. 

Chicot the Jester. 

The Forty-five Guardsmen, 



382 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW? 

By Charles Dickens — 

Barnaby Eudge. A Tale of Two Cities. 

By Lord Ly tton — 

Eienzi. The Last of the Barons. 

Harold. The Last Days of Pompeii. 

Animal Books 
First among the animal books are Mr. Kipling's two 
Jungle Books. Two other beast stories by Mr. Kipling are 
"Moti Guj, Mutineer," the tale of a truant elephant, which is 
in Life's Handicajp and '' The Maltese Cat," a splendid tale 
of a polo pony, which is in The Day's Work. Next to these 
comes Mr. E. Thompson-Seton's Wild Animals I Have 
Known. The lives of animals by themselves, or by some one 
who knows everything about them, are always favorite books 
with small readers. Among the best are these : — 

Black Beauty (the story of a horse) By Mrs. Sewell. 

Conrad the Squirrel . . . ** the author of Wandering Willie. 

The Story of the Red Deer . . " J. W. Fortescue. 

Every Inch a King (the story of a dog) " Anon. 

The Lives of the Hunted . . " E. Thomson-Seton. 

The Trail of the Sandhill Stag . " '' '' 

The Adventures of a Siberian Cub '' Leon Golschmann. 

The Autobiography of a Grizzly. " E. Thompson-Seton. 

The best tale of a bear is perhaps Bret Harte's " Baby Syl- 
vester," which will be found in one of his volumes of short 
stories. Good animal stories are scattered about other collec- 
tions of short stories. In Mr. Anstey's Paleface and Redskin 
are stories of dogs. 

Mr. Lang's 

Red Book of Animal Stories 

has both dogs and cats in it, and many other creatures too. 
Here also should be placed Mr. Warde Fowler's 

Tales of the Birds. 



READING 383 

Other very popular animal books are Mr. Joel Chandler 
Harrises 

Nights with Uncle Eemus, Mr. Rabbit at Home, 

Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit (largely illustrations), 

and the same author has written also 

The Story of Aaron, Aaron in the Wild Woods, 

which are stories not only of animals, but of people too ; and 
here, perhaps, may be placed JEsojp's Fables. 

Wood Magic ... By Richard Jefferies 

is an attempt to do for English wild life somewhat the same 
service that Mr. Kipling performed for India. 

Other open air and animal books are : — 
By the Kev. J. G. Wood — 

By Back-yard Zoo. Pet Land. 

Pet Land revisited. A Tour Round My Garden. 

Also 

Curiosities of Natural History . . By Frank Buckland. 

White's Selborne Edited by Frank Buckland. 

Wanderings in South America . . By Charles Waterton. 

Wild Traits in Domestic Animals . - " Louis Robinson. 

The Voyage of the '' Beagle " . . *' Charles Darwin, 

Ants, Bees, and Wasps . . . . "Sir John Lubbock. 
On the Senses, Instincts, and Intelligence (Lord Avebury). 

of Animals *' '* " 

Bob, Son of Battle '' •' ** 

A series of very interesting scientific books, under the 
general title " The Eomance of Science," is published by the 
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Among these 
volumes are — 

The Making of Flowers .... By Professor Henslow. 

The Birth and Growth of Worlds . . " Professor Green. 

Spinning Tops " Professor Perry. 

Time and Tide "Sir Robert Ball. 



384 



WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ? 



The same publishers also issue a series of " l^atural History 
Kambles," including — 

In Search of Minerals . . . . By D. T. Ansted. 



Lane and Field 
Ponds and Ditches 
Underground . 
The Woodlands 
The Sea-shore 



the Eev J. G. Wood. 
M. C. Cooke. 
J. E. Taylor. 
M. C. Cooke. 
Professor Duncan. 



There is also a new series, called " The Wonder Books of 
Science," of which 

The Wonder Book of Volcanoes and Earthquakes, and 
The Wonder Book of the Atmosphere 

are the first. 



Other good scientific yet very 

The Fairyland of Science 

Through Magic Glasses . 

Life and Her Children . 

The Eomance of the Insect World 

The Ocean .... 

Glaucus 

Madam How and Lady Why . 
The Old Red Sandstone • 
The Testimony of the Rocks . 
Homes without Hands . 
Sun, Moon, and Stars . 
The Story of the Heavens 
Other Worlds than Ours 
The Orbs around Us 
The Boys' Book of Inventions 
Extinct Animals . 
Electricity for Young People 



entertaining books : - 

By A. B. Buckley. 

(< (( (< 

U (( (( 

*' Miss L. Badenoch. 
(< (i <( 

" Charles Kingsley. 

(( (( u 

" Hugh Miller. 

(( a (t 

" Rev. J. G. Wood. 

" A. Giberne. 

" Sir Robert Ball. 

*' R. A. Proctor. 

(i (( it 

'* R. S. Baker. 

** E. Ray Lankester. 

" Tudor Jenks. 



History 
A good deal of more or less truthful history will be found 
in the section given to historical tales (see page 380). Here 
follows a small list of more serious historical books which also 
are good reading : — 



READING 



3^5 



Tales of a Grandfather . 
Stories from English History . 
Lives of the Queens of England 
Cameos from English History (several 
Stories from Roman History . 
Deeds that Won the Empire . 
Fights for the Flag 



By Sir Walter Scott. 

" Eev. A. J. Church. 

** Agnes Strickland. 

"■ CM. Younge. 

" Mrs. Beesley. 

" W. H. Fitchett. 

U U (( 



Books of Travel 

It is not important that travel books 
should be written especiall}^ for young 
readers. Almost all records of travel 
contain some pages of interest, what- 
ever the remainder may be like. The 
fact that a book describes wanderings 
in a far country is enough. 

But the books by Commander Kob- 
ert E. Peary and his wife deserve 
mention. 

Snowland Folk. 
The Snow Baby. 
Children of the Arctic. 



The Treatment of Library Books 
On this page is given a copy of the 

book mark which a clergyman, Mr. 

Henry Maxson, prepared for the use 

of the readers in the children's section 

of a library in Wisconsin. 



BOOK MARK 

Once upon a time a Library 
Book was overheard talking 
to a little boy who had just 
borrowed it. The words 
seemed worth recording, and 
here they are : — 

" Please don't handle me 
with dirty hands. 1 should 
feel ashamed to be seen when 
the next little boy borrowed 
me. 

"Or leave me out in the 
rain. Books can catch cold 
as well as children. 

" Or make marks on me 
with your pen or pencil. It 
would spoil my looks. 

" Or lean on me with your 
elbows when you are reading 
me. It hurts. 

" Or open me and lay me 
face down on the table. You 
wouldn't like to be treated so. 

" Or put in between my 
leaves a pencil or anything 
thicker than a single sheet of 
thin paper. It would strain 
my back. 

" Whenever you have fin- 
ished reading me, if you are 
afraid of losing your place, 
don't turn down the corner of 
one of my leaves, but have a 
neat little Book Mark to put 
in where you stopped, and 
then close me and lay me 
down on my side, so that I 
can have a good, comfortable 
rest. 

" Remember that I want to 
visit a great many other little 
boys after you have done 
with me. Besides, I may 
meet you again some day, 
and you would be sorry to see 
me looking old and torn and 
soiled. Help me to keep 
fresh and clean, and I will 
help you to be happy." 



APPENDIX 

In making a hook of this kind, it is impossible to think of all the 
things that ought to be mentioned. Every reader is certain to know 
of some game or pastime that has been left out. In order that you 
may yourself bring this collection nearer completeness^ the following 
Appendix of blank pages has been added. Some reference to every- 
thing that is written in the Appendix ought to be made, if only in 
pencil, in both the body of the book and in the Index. 



388 APPENDIX 



APPENDIX 389 



390 APPENDIX 



APPENDIX 391 



392 APPENDIX 



APPENDIX 



393 



394 APPENDIX 



APPENDIX 



395 



396 APPENDIX 



INDEX 



Acrobatic impossibilities, 36 
Acrobatics, drawing-room, 35-41 
Acrostics, 59 
Acting initials, 97 

games, 97-109 

proverbs, 97 

verbs (Dumb Crambo), 98 
Adders, 212 
Adhesive tape, 243 
Adventure, stories of, 376 
Advertisements, 21 
Almonds, how to blanch, 310 
Alphabet, the cat, 166 
Alphabet, the love, 88, 165 
Alphabet, the ship, 87 
Anemone, 325 
Angora rabbits, 348 
Animal, vegetable and mineral, 96 
Animals, books about, 382 

China, 192 

composite (drawing game), 51 

invented (drawing game), 54 

velvet, 289 
Annuals, treatment of, 319-323 
Ants, 213 
Apple-snapping, 6 
Apprentice, the, 167 
Arm-chair (model), 251 
Aspidistra, 331 
Auctioning prizes. 43 
Autumn sowing of seedlings, 321 
Avadavats, 358 



Bag and stick, 7 
Balancing, 187 
Balancing tricks, 122 
Ball games, 139 

wool, 282 
Ballad game, the, 132 
Balloon, 39 
Barley Sugar, 307 
Baths for birds, 355 
Battledoor and shuttlecock, 129 
Bead furniture for dolls' houses, 223 
Bead-work, 283 
Bean bags, 113 
Bed boat, the, 189 

games, 185-193 

soldiers, 191 

thinking games for, 189 
Beds for dolls' houses, 222 

matchbox, 231 
Bedstead (model), 252 
Bees, 205 
Belgian hares, 349 
Bicyclist, the, 34 
Biennials, treatment of, 322 
Bingo, 27 
Birds, large and cage, 355-366 

in the garden, 363-366 
Birds'-nesting, 207 
Birthday, the old maid's, 81 
Blackberry ing, 209 
Blackbird, the, 360 
Black man, 158 
Blacksmith, the, 206 
Blenheim spaniels, 347 
Blind feeding the blind, the, 5 
Blind games, 3-5 
Blind man's bufiE, 3 

played with spoons, 3 



397 



398 



INDEX 



Blind man's wand, 4 
Blind worms, 212 
Block city, 188 
Bloodhound, the, 347 
Blowing eggs, 207 
Blowing out the candle, 6 
Boat, a simple toy, 295 
Boats, paper, 285 

on a stream, 211 

sailing, 210 

walnut shell, 298 
Book mark, 385 
Books — 

and bookshelves for a doll's house, 
224 

about animals, 382 

about boys, 376 

of adventure, 376 

about children, 373 

of fairy tales, 370 

historical, 380-382, 384 

of poetry, 371 

about the sea, 379 

of travel, 385 

of legendary tales, 371 
Borders for a garden, 319 
Borzoi, the, 347 
Bowling, 143 
Boxes, cardboard, 288 

for collections of eggs, 208 

for dolls' houses, 220 

paper, 287 
Boy and schoolboy stories, 376 
Boys' toys, 292-301 
Bran-tubs, 303 
Bream, 351 
Bricks, 185 
Bruce's heart, 187 
Bubbles, soap, 116, 279 
Buff, 26 
^^ Buff, blind man's, 3 
^' Buff, shadow, 5 
■ Bulbs, treatment of, 325-326 

in cocoanut fibre, 333 

in glasses, 333 

in pots, 332 
Bull dog, the, 346 
Bullfinch, the, 359 
Bull terrier, the, 343 
Bunting, the yellow, 360 
Buried names, 63 



Butterfly hunting, 208 
Butter-making, 205 
Buving dogs, 342 
Buz, 167 



Cage birds, 355-366 
Cages for birds, 355 
Campanulas, 332 
Canaries, 357 

seed, 332 
Candle-blowing, 6 
Candle lighters, the, 38 
Candy-making, 307-312 
Candy, molasses, 310 

nut, 310 

peppermint, 311 
Caramels, 308 

cream, 309 
Cardboard and paper furniture : — 

drawings of, 241-257 

arm-chair, 251 

bedstead, 252 

chair, 256 

cot, 257 

cut-outs, 291 

dining-room table, 249 

dressing-table, 254 

high chair, 257 

kitchen chair, 247 
range, 247 
table, 246 
pots and pans, 248 

rocking-chair, 256 

screen, 248 

sideboard, 250 

sofa, 251 

towel-rack, 256 

wardrobe, 253 

washstand, 255 
Cardboard and paper toys, 284-292 



INDEX 



399 



Cardboard boxes, 288 

dolls' houses, 237-243 

uses for, 290 
Card games, 77-83 
Cardinal, the, 358 
Cards for patience, 76 

for snap, 77 
Cards, hat and, 38 
Catalogues, gardening, 316 
Cat alphabet, the, 166 
Catching balls, 140 
Caterpillar game, 11 
Caterpillars, 353 
Cat-fish, the American, 352 
Cats, 348 
Chaffinch, the, 359 
Chair (model), 256 
Chairs, chestnut, 229 

cork, 228 
Chalks, 275 

Characteristics, prophecies and, 80 
Charades, 106 
Cherry contests, 304 
Chevy, 156 

Chickens, feeding the, 204 
C/iUd^s Garden of Verses, A, 188 
Children, books about, 373 
China animals, 192 

nest-eggs, 204 
Chinese gambling, 181 
Chitterbob, 31 
Christmas, 302-303 

trees, 302 
Clap in, clap out, 15 
Cloth es-baskefc, a doll's house, 234 
Clothes-horse, summer house, 136 
Clumber spaniel, the, 344 
Clumps, 93 
Coach, family, 33 
Cobbler, the, 14 
Cocked hat, paper, 284 
Cocker spaniel, the, 344 
Cocoanut cream, 308 

drops, 308 

fibre for bulbs, 332 
Coffee-pot, 95 
Collars for dogs, 340 
Collecting Jones's, 165 
Collections of china animals, 192 

of flags, 273 

of flowers, 208 



Collections, continued 

of stamps, 278 
Collie, the, 344 
Color in a garden, 316 
Coloring maps, 273 

pictures, 273 
Compasses, home-made, 243 
Competitions, guessing, 103 

railway, 173 
Composite animals (drawing game), 51 

scrap books, 277 

stories, 70 
Concerted sneeze, the, 27 
Concerts, the topsy-turvy, 105 
Consequences, 68 

an extended form of, 69 
Contests, cherry, 304 
Convalescents, games for, 191 
Copying woodcuts, 274 
Cork and matchbox furniture, 228-234 

ships, 197 
Cot (model), 257 
Counting dogs, 164 

a million, 191 
Counting imaginary flocks of sheep, 191 
Counting-out rhymes, 134 
Country books, 215 
Country, employment in the, 203-215 
Cows, 206 

Cradle, a walnut, 232 
Cream caramels, 309 

cocoanut, 308 

stuffing for dates, 31 1 
Cress, mustard and, 327, 332 
Crocuses, 325 
Crosses, noughts and, 176 
Cross questions, 22 
Cross-tag, 152 
Cumulative games, 29-31 
Curtains for cardboard dolls' houses, 
238 

dolls' house, 221 
Cushion, 14 * ' 

Cutting flowers, 335-336 
Cutting out pictures, 191 
Cutting leaves, 326 



400 



INDEX 



Daffodils, 325, 333 
Dairy, the, 205 
Daisy chains, 135 
Dancing dwarf, the, 105 
Dancing egg, the, 124 
Dancing man, a, 289 
Dancing pea, the, 124 
Darts, paper, 286 
Dates, stuffed, 311 
Day's shopping, the, 14 
Decorations, evergreen, 302 

paper, 302 
Deerhound, the Scotch, 347 
Deer Stalking, 6 
Demons, wool, 282 
Diaries, country, 214 

gardening, 317 
Dining-room table (model), 249 
Dinner parties, dolls', 226 
Distemper, treatment of, 341 
Ditto game, the, 26 
Dividing perennials, 324 
Dog-stick, 145 
Dogs, counting, 164 

exercising, 339 

food for, 339 

how to buy, 342 

how to teach tricks, 341 

the various kinds of, 343-348 

treatment of, 339-343 

washing, 340 
Dogs' collars, 340 

kennel (cardboard), 241 
Dolls for dolls' houses, 225 

dressing, 226 

paper, 258-262 

rows of paper, 262 

walking, 259 
Dolls' dinner parties, 226 

flats, 226 

garden seats and tables, 219 

houses, 220 

cardboard, 237-243 
chimney, 242 
partition, 240 
small, 227 

house beds, 222 
bookshelves. 224 
cupboards, 225 
curtains, 221 



Dolls house, continued 

fireplaces, 220 

floors, 221 

gardens, 220, 242 

pictures, 224 

screens, 225 

wall papers, 220 
Donkey's tail, the, 5 
Dots, five, 47, 48 
Double acrostics, 60 
Doves, 354 
Dragons, hand, 290 
Drawing games, 47-56 
Drawing-room acrobatics, 35-41 
Drawings, eyes-shut, 50 
Drawing tricks, 51 
Dresses for paper dolls, 258 
Dressing dolls, 226 
Dressing the lady, 13 
Dressing-table (model), 254 
table, matchbox, 232 
up for charades, 108 
Duck on a rock, 142 
Ducks' eggs, 204 
Dumb Crambo, 98 

performances, 107 
Dutch rabbits, 349 
Dutch street, a, 267 
Dwarf, the dancing, 105 



Easter eggs, 275 
Eggs, blowing, 207 

ducks', 204 

Easter, 275 

hens', 204 



INDEX 



401 



Electricity, 125 
Elements, the, 90 
EmploymeDts, guessing, 98 
Esquimau village, a, 266 
Evergreen decorations, 302 
Everton toffee, 310 
Exercising dogs, 339 
Exploration, 203 
Eyes, 99 
Eyes-shut drawings, 50 



Fairy-tale books, 370 
Family coach, 33 

specimen story, 33 
Family, the imaginary, 190 
Fan tail pigeons, 354 
Farmyards, 203 
Feather, the, 21 
Feeding chickens. 
Fern balls, 331 
Ferns, 331 

skeleton, 281 
Fights, walnut shell, 299 
Filipino village, a, 266 
Fire-buckets, 40 
Fireplaces for dolls' houses, 220 
Fish, 351 
Five dots, 47-48 
Fives, 61 

Flags, collection of, 273 
Floors in dolls' houses, 222 
Flower pots, 330 
Flower shows, 136, 317 
Flower symbols, 136 



Flowers, collecting, 208 

cutting, 335 

for a doll's house, 225 

packing, 335 

painting, 209 

for town gardens, 328 

for window boxes, 334 
Fly away, 23 
Follow my leader, 159 
Food for birds, 356 

for chickens and ducks, 204 

for dogs, 339 

for puppies, 340 

for rabbits, 349 

for wild birds. 359, 361, 365 

on a railway journey, 180 
Football, parlor, 39 
Foot-stools, cork, 230 
Forfeits, 41 
Fowls, trussed, 37 
Fox-terrier, the, 343 
French and English, 158 

(paper), 177 
French tag, 152 
French Blind Man's Buff, 4 
Fruit cream, 309 
Fuchsias, 332 

Furnishing dolls' houses, 222 
Furnishing game, a, 221 



Gabies with a ball, 139 
by rote, 189 
drawing, 47- 56 
in bed, 185-193 
with cards, 75-83 



402 



INDEX 



Games, continued 

for convalescents, 191 

for a journey, 173-181 

for a party, 3-43 

for a picnic, 151-159 

quotation, 92 

rainy-day, 113-126 

table, 75-83 

thinking, guessing, and acting, 87- 
109 

for a walk, 163-170 

with a watch, 175 

writing, 59-72 

yes and no, 94-96 
Gambling, Chinese, 181 
Gaps, 154 
Garden, dolls' house, 219, .242 

kitchen. 327 

shop, 136 

town, 328 
Gardening catalogues, 316 

diaries, 317 

tools, 318 
General post, 17 
Geraniums, 332 
Ghosts of My Friends, 50 
Glasses, bulbs in, 333 
Glass-maker, the, 125 
Going to Jerusalem, 10 
Goldfinch, the, 359 
Gold fish, 351 
Good fat hen, a, 30 
Good luck lily, 333 
Gordon setter, 344 
Gossip, 21 
Grab, 78 

Grand Mogul, the, 166 
Grand Mufti, the, 25 
Grass snakes, 212 
Great Dane, the, 346 
Greyhound, the, 347 
Guessing competitions, 103 

employments. 98 

games, 93-104 

numbers, 102 

quantities, 104 

results, 102 

scents, 104 

the color of horses' tails, 164 
Guinea pigs, 350 
Gypsy camp, 268 



H 

Hand dragons, 290 

Hanging, 179 

Hare and hounds, 145 

Hat and cards, 38 

Hats, cocked, 284 

Hawks, 213 

Heads, bodies and tails, 54 

He can do little who can't do this, 8 

Hen and chickens, 130 

Hen, a good fat, 30 

Hens' eggs, where to look for, 204 

Here I bake. 13 

Hide and seek, 154 

Hieroglyphics, or picture-writing, 52, 

53, 55 
High chair (model), 257 
High skip, 38 
Himalayan rabbits, 349 
Hish ! hash ! hosh ! 27 
Historical stories, 380-382 
History books. 385 
Hives, bee, 205 
Hold fast ! Let go ! 24 
Home newspaper, the, 284 
Honey -pots, 11 
Hoop games for two, 169 

posting, 169 
Hoops, 169 
Hop-scotch, 143 
Hop, step, and jump, 159 
Hospitals, scrap books for, 277 
Hot and cold, 9 
Hot hand, 175 
Hotel game, an, 188 
Hounds, 346 
Houses, cardboard, 237-242 

dolls', 220 
House that glue built, the, 243 
How, when, an^ where, d^ 



INDEX 



403 



Hunting for eggs, 204 
Hunt the ring, 19 
Hunt the slipper, 7 
Hunt the squirrel, 153 
Hunt the thimble, 9 
Hutches, rabbit, 349 
Hyacinths, 325, 333 



Jack Hoeneb pies, 303 

Jack-stones, 116 

Japanese fern balls, 331 

Java sparrows, 358 

John Ball, 31 

Jinglers, 3 

Jolly miller, the, 10 

Jones's, collecting, 165 

Journeys, games to play on, 173-181 

Judge and Jury, 22 

Jumping Rope, 129 



Illuminating, 274 
Illustrated papers, painting, 273 
Illustrating, 120 
I love my love, 88, 165 
Imaginary family, the, 190 
Improbable stories, 70 
India-rubber plant, 331 
Indoor gardening, 329-334 

occupations and things to make, 273 

painting, 273 

plants, 331 
Initials, 65, 189 

acting, 97 
Ink sea-serpents, 288 
Invented animals (drawing game), 54 
Irises, 325 
Irish setter, 344 

terrier, 343 
I spy, 155 
It, 152 
Ivy, 331 

chains, 135 



K 

Killing butterflies, 208 
King Charles spaniel, 347 
Kingfishers, 212 
Kitchen gardens, 327 
table (model), 246 
chair " 247 
range * * 247 
pots and pans, 248 
Kitchen utensils, 1 8 
Kite messengers, 295 
Kites, 292 
Knots, 117-120 



404 



INDEX 



Lady Queen Anne, 20 
Lamp for small dolls' house, 230 
Land of counterpane, the, 191 
Land of Story-books, the, 188 
Laughter, 26 
Leaves, skeleton, 280 
Legendary tales, 371 
Letter games, 75 
Letters and telegrams, 63 

and words, 178 

with a pencil, 178 
Lettuce, 327 
Lights, rhyming, 167 
Lists, 62 

Little dog, the, 152 
Looby, looby, 29 
Log Houses, 268 

London Bridge is Falling Down, 15 
Love alphabet, the, 88, 165 
Love-birds, 358 
Low-tide, 197 
Lubbock, Sir John, on bees, 205 



Making friends, 203 
Making plans, 191 
Making obeisance, 99 
Making sentences, 165 
Man, a dancing, 289 
Mandarins, the, 25 
Maps, coloring, 273 

on a journey, 173 
Marbles, 146 
Mastiff, the, 346 
Mats, paper, 286 
Menageries, 192 
Mesmerism, 99 
Messengers, kite, 295 
Mice, 212 

pet, 351 
Milking cows, 206 
Million, counting a, 191 
Miniature trees, 331 
Minnows, 352 
Missing information, 67 
Mogul, the Grand, 166 
Molasses candy, 310 
Moles, 212 
Mongrels, 347 
Mottoes for Christmas, 302 
Moulting, 357 

Mounting pressed flowers, 209 
Muffin man, the, 32 
Mufti, the Grand, 25 
Mulberry bush, the, 28 
Music, dolls', 225 
Music, magic, 9 
Mustard and cress, 327, 332 
My lady's clothes, 13 
My right-hand neighbor, 94 
My thought, 89 



M 

Madonna lilies, 325 
Magic-lantern slides, 274 
Magic music, 9 



INDEX 



405 



Old soldier, 13 

Old stone, 130 ■ 

Oranges and lemons, 15 

Orchestra, 29 

Outdoor games for boys, 139-147 

Outdoor games for girls, 129-136 

Outlines, 47, 49 



N 

Narcissus, 325, 333 
Natural history books, 382 
Neighbor, my right-hand, 94 
Neighbors, 15 
Newfoundland dogs, 345 
Newspaper, the, 71 
Newspaper, the home, 284 
Ninepins, 185 
Norfolk spaniel, 344 
Noughts and crosses, 176 
Numbers, guessing, 102 
Nut candy, 310, 311 
Nuts in May, 12 
Nutting, 209 



Observation, 104 

for railway journeys, 174 
Occupations, indoor, 273-304 
Old bachelor, 79 
Old maid, 79 
Old maid's birthday, the, 81 



P's AND Q's^ 89 
Packing flowers, 335 
Paddling, 197 
Painting, 273 

cardboard dolls' houses, 238 

cardboard furniture, 245 

dolls' house food, 226 

eggs for Easter, 275 

flags, 273 

flowers, 209 

magic-lantern slides, 274 

maps, 273 
Paper boats, 285 

boxes, 287 

and cardboard toys. 284-292 

darts, 286 

decorations, 302 

dolls, 258-262 

French and English, 177 

furniture, 243-257 

mats, 286 
Papers for dolls' houses, 220 
Parlor football, 39 



4o6 



INDEX 



Parrots, 354 

Party, games for a, 3-43 

Patience or Thirteeiis, 76 

Pen and ink work, 276 

Peppermint candy, 311 

Perch, 352 

Perennials, treatment of, 323 

Pets, 339-366 

Philopenas, 303 

Photography, 214 

Picking flowers, 335 

Picnic games, 151-159 

Pictures and titles, 55 

Pictures, coloring, 273 

for dolls' houses, 224 

pricking, 275 

tracing, 275 
Pictures to order, 54 
Picture-writing, or hieroglyphics, 52, 

53, 55 
Pig, 79 
Pigeons, 353 
Ping-pong, 75 
Plain toffee, 309 
Plans, making, 191 
Planting bulbs, 326 

perennials, 323 

seedlings, 320 
Plants, window, 329 

indoor, 331 
Playhouses of other peoples, 265-269 
Poetry books, 371 
Pomeranian, the, 347 
Ponds, 210 
Poodles, 347 
Pop-corn, 309 
Pop-guns, 185 
Postage-stamp collections, 278 

snakes, 278 
Post office, the. 283 
Potato races, 40 
Pots and pans (models), 248 
Predicaments, 71 
Pressing flowers. 209 
Pricking pictures, 275 
Prisoner's base, 156 
Prize, auctioning, 43 
Products, towns and, 168 
Prophecies and characteristics, 80 
Proverbs, 96 

acting, 97 



Proverbs, continued 

shouting, 97 
Pueblo settlement, a, 265 
Pugs, 347 

Puppies, how to feed, 340 
Puss in the corner, 7 
Puzzles, 279 



Quantities, guessing, 104 
Queen Anne, Lady, 20 
Quoits, 141 
Quotation games, 92 



Rabbits, wild, 348 

tame, 348 
Races, 140 
Races, potato, 40 

soap-bubble, 116 

Spanish, or wheelbarrow, 141 

tissue-paper, 39 
Radishes, 327 
Railway competitions, 173 
Railway whist, 174 
Rainy-day games, 113-126 
Reading, 369-385 
Red rover, 159 



INDEX 



407 



Remarks on acting, 109 
Retriever, the, 344 
Rhymed replies, 67 
Rhymes, counting out, 134 
Rhyming games, 92 
Rhyming lights, 167 
Riddles, 66 
Ring, hunt the, 19 
Ring taw, 146 
Ring-the-nail, 115 
Ring-toss, 114 
Roadside whist, 163 
Robin's Alive, 27 
Robin, the, 361 
Rocking-chair (model), 256 
Rocks, 198 

Rows of paper dolls, 262 
Runt pigeons, 354 
Russian scandal, 21 
Ruth and Jacob, 23 



Sailing boats, 197, 210 
Saint Bernard, the, 346 
Sand castles, 198 

games, 198 
Saving seed, 322 
Scandal, Russian, 21 
Scarborough lily, 333 
Scents, guessing, 104 
Schoolboy stories, 376 
Science, l)ooks about, 383 
Scrap-books, 191, 276 

covered screens, 278 
Scraps and transfers, 288 
Screen (model), 248 
Screens covered with scraps, 278 

for dolis' houses, 225 
Sea-Serpents, ink, 288 
Seaside friends, good, 199 
Seaside employments, 197-200 



Seaweed, 199 

Seedlings, perennials, 325 

general remarks on, 321 
Seed, sowing, 322 
Sentences, making, 165 
Sergeant, the, 24 
Setters, 344 

Setting-boards for butterflies, 208 
Shades, 326 
Shadow buff, 5 
Shadows on the wall, 279 
Shearing sheep, 206 
Sheep, 206 

counting imaginary flocks of, 191 

dog, the, 345 

shearing, 206 

washing, 206 
Shell work, 199 
Ship alphabet, the, 87 
Ships, cork, 197 
Shop, game of, 221 

in the garden, 136 
Shopping, the day's, 14 
Shop windows, 164 
Shouting proverbs, 97 
Shuffle board, 121 
Sideboard (model), 250 
Silkworms, 352 
Simon says thumbs up, 24 
Simple acrostics. 59 
Skeleton ferns, 281 

leaves, 280 
Skipjacks, 299 
Skye terrier, the, 343 
Sleep, ways of getting to, 191 
Slugs, 324 

Small dolls' houses, 227 
Snakes, 212 

postage stamp, 228 
Snap. 77 
Snap cards, 78 
Sneeze, the concerted, 27 
Snowdrops, 325 
Soap-bubbles, 116, 279 
Sofa (model), 251 
Sofas, cork, 229 
Soldiers, 185, 191 
Solitary watchfulness, 212 
Sowing seeds, 320 
Spaniels, 344 
Spanish cup and ball, 186 
Sparrows, 365 



4o8 



INDEX 



Spatter-work, 275 

Spelling game, 166 

Spin the platter, 17 

Spoons, blind man's buff played with, 3 

Squills, 325 

Squirrels, wild, 213 

tame, 350 
Stagarino, 159 
Stamps, collecting, 278 
Star of Bethlehem, 325 
Starlings, 365 
Station Observation, 174 
Statues, 26 
Steps, 4 

Stevenson, R. L., 188 
Still Pond ! No More Moving, 4 
Stir the mash, 11 
Stool of repentance, 98 
Stories, composite, 70 

improbable, 70 

about schoolboys, 376 

telling, 93, 163 
Story books, 188 
Story for Family coach, 33 

for Old maid's birthday, 82 
Story game, 70 
Strawberries, 328 
Streams, 211 
Strength tests, 144 
Stuffed dates, 311 
Suckers, 299 

Sugar, Barley, how to make, 307 
Sugar, how to color, 312 
Suggestions, 91 
Summer-houses, 136 
Sussex spaniel, the, 344 
Swallows, 213 
Swarming of bees. 205 
Sweet-making, 307-312 



Tableaux vivants, 108 
Table games, 75-83 
Tables, cork, 230 
Tag, 152 
Teapot, 95 
Telegrams, 64 
Telling stories, 93 

during walks, 163 
Terriers, 343 
Terza, 154 
Thimble, 9 
Thinking games, 87-93 

for bed, 189 
Thirteens, or Patience, 76 
Thought, my, 89 
Thought-reading tricks, 100 
Throwing light, 96 
Tides, 197 
Tiger-lilies, 325 
Tissue-paper dresses for dolls, 262 

races, 39 
Titles, pictures and, 55 
Tit-tat-toe, 176 
Toffee, almond, 310 

Everton, 310 

plain, 309 
Tom Tiddler's ground, 129 
Tools for gardening, 318 
Topsy-turvy concert, the, 105 
Touch last, 152 
Touchwood, 152 
Towel-rack, cork, 233 

(model), 256 
Town gardens, 328 
Towns and products, 168 
Toy boats, 295 

dogs, 347 
Toys for boys, 292-301 
Tracing, 244 
Tracing pictures, 275 
Train, games to play in the, 173-181 
Transfers, 288 
Transplanting flowers, 320 
Travel, books of, 3H5 
Traveller, the, 34 
Trees, miniature, 331 

Christmas, 302 
Tricks, how to teach birds, 356 

balancing, 122 

how to teach dogs, 341 



INDEX 



409 



Tricks, continued 

drawing, 51 

thouglit-reading, 100 
Trout, 351 
Trussed fowls, 37 
Tug of war, 38 
Tulips, 325 
Turtles, 351 
Twenty questions, 189 
Twos and threes, or Terza, 154 
Tying knots, 117 



u 

Unison games. 26 
Up Jenkins, 18 
Utensils, kitchen, 18 
kitchen (models), 248 
for sweet-making, 307 



Velvet animals, 289 
Verse and poetry books, 371 



Walnut fights, 299 

shell boats, 298 
Wand, blind man's, 4 
Wardrobe, matchbox, 233 

(model), 253 
Washing dogs, 340 

sheep, 206 
Washstand, 232 

(model), 255 
Watch, games to be played with a, 175 
Water-cutters, 300 
Watering flowers, 318 

perennials, 324 

seedlings, 320 

window boxes, 334 

window plants, 330 
Wax-bills, 358 
Weeds, 321 

Welsh terrier, the, 343 
Wet clothes, 197 
Wheat, 332 

When my ship comes in, 87 
Whist, railwa}^, 174 
Whist, roadside, 163 
Whistle, the, 8 
Whistles, 301 
Wiggles, 49 
Wild birds, feeding the, 361 

rabbits, 348 
Window boxes, 329, 354 

plants, 329 
Windows, shop, 164 
Witches, 131 
Wool balls. 282 

demons, 282 
Word -making, 178 
W^riting games, 59-72 



W 

Walking dolls, 259 

games to play when out, 163-170 
Walking Spanish, 39 
Wall-pockets, 318 



Yellow bunting, 360 
Yes and no games, 94-96 



A List of Standard Books for Children 

Published by Frederick A. Stokes Company 



Books For Older Children 

Bindloss, Harold 
The Young Traders. Illustrated, 12mo, cloth $1.50 

A capital story of two boys in West Africa. 

Crockett, S. R. 
The Surprising Adventures of Sir Toady Lion. Il- 
lustrated, 12mo, cloth 1.00 

Sir Toady Crusoe. Illustrated. Large 12mo, cloth 1.25 

The adventures of two boys and a p;irl on the Scottish coast. 

Sweetheart Travellers. Illustrated, 12mo, cloth 1.00 

Fine Art Juveniles 
Children's classics in artistic form. Beautifully illus- 
trated. Each 8vo, cloth 1.50 

1. Old Fashioned Tales. E. Y. Lucas. 

2. The "Original Poems" and Others. Ann 

and Jane Ta^dor. 

3. Tales from Maria Edgeworth. 

4. Tales of the Canterbury Pilgrims. F. J. H. 

Darton. 

5. Fairy Tales from Grimm. 

6. Fairy Tales from Hans Andersen. 

7. Stories from the Faerie Queen. Mary 

Macleod. 

8. The Book of King Arthur. Mary Macleod. 

9. The Fairchild Family. Mrs. Sherwood. 

10. I^ATIONAL EHYMES OF THE NURSERY. 

11. Forgotten Stories of Long Ago. E. Y. 

Lucas. 

4U 



412 STANDARD BOOKS FOR CHILDREN 

12. Ballads in Phose. Mary Macleod. 

13. Another Book of Verses for Children. 

E. V. Lucas. 

14. The Wonder Book of Old Eomance. F. J. H. 

Darton. 

Grinell, George Bird 
The "Jack" Books. Illustrated. Each 12mo, cloth 1.25 

Good books for boys, full of huutiog, adventure and natural history. 

Jack the Young Eanchman. 
Jack Among the Indians. 
Jack in the Eockies. 
Jack the Young Oanoeman. 
Jack the Young Trapper. 

Grinnell, Morton 
Neighbors of Field, Wood, and Stream. Illustrated, 

12mo, cloth ! 1.25 

An account of wild creatures not far from civilization. 

Houston, Edwin J. 
The Wonder Books of Science. Illustrated. Each 

12mo, cloth 1.50 

The v^onders of nature described and simply explained by a scientist. 

The Wonder Book of Volcanoes and Earthquakes. 
The Wonder Book of the Atmosphere. 

Jenks, Tudor 

Electricity for Young People. Illustrated, 12mo, 

cloth net, 1.50 

The story of the progress of electricity from the earliest times. 

Lounsberry, Alice 
The Wild Flower Book for Young People. Illus- 
trated, 12mo, cloth netj 1.50 

A story of the lives of wild flowers. 

Marshall, H. E. 

An Island Story. Illustrated in color. Large 8vo, 

cloth net, 2.50 

A child's history of England. 

Scotland's Story. Illustrated in color. Large 8vo, 

cloth net, 2.50 

Stirring events in Scottish history. 



STANDARD BOOKS FOR CHILDREN 413 

Moore, N. Hudson 

Deeds of Daring Done by Girls. Illustrated in color, 

12mo, cloth 1.50 

Examples of heroism of girls under twenty. 

Nesbit, E. 

The Treasure Seekers. Illustrated, 12mo, cloth 1.50 

By the author of The Wouldbegoods. 
The New Treasure Seekers. Illustrated, 12mo, cloth, 1.50 

Further adventures of the fascinating Bastable children. 

Perkins, Lucy F. 

The Dandelion Classics for Children. Illustrated in 

color. Each 4to, cloth 1.50 

A uniform edition of children's classics, splendidly illustrated, 

EoBiN Hood. 

Midsummer Night's Dream for Young People. 

The Twenty Best Fairy Tales. 

Sage, Agnes C. 

A Little Colonial Dame. Illustrated, 4to, cloth, 1.50 

Same, boards 1.00 

The story of a girl in old New York. 

A Little Daughter of the Revolution. Illustrated, 

4to, cloth 1.50 

Same, boards 1.00 

Child-life during the exciting period of the War for Independence. 

Steedman, C. M. 
A Child' s Life of Jesus. Illustrated in color, 8vo, cloth, 3. 00 

Thumb-o-Graph Series 

Thumb- o- Graphs. 16mo, cloth, net, .50 ; Leather, boxed, 

net, 1.00; Gilt, leather, boxed net, 1.50 

Ghosts of My Friends. 16mo, cloth, net, .50; Leather, 

boxed net, 1.00 

The Book of Butterflies. 12mo, cloth, boxed net, 1.00 

I^OUGHTS AND CROSSES. 16mo, cloth net, . 50 

Hand-o-Graphs. 4to, cloth net, 1.00 



414 STANDARD BOOKS FOR CHILDREN 

Books For Children From Ten to Fifteen 
Years of Age 

Ault, Lena and Norman 
The Podgy Book of Tales. Illustrated in color, IGmo, 

cloth 1.00 

Full of jolly stories about happenings in the nursery and garden. 

Bedford, Francis D. 
A Night of Wonders. Illustrated in color. Oblong, 

16mo, cloth 1.00 

The story of a hunt for Father Christmas. 

Carroll, Lewis 
Alice in Wonderland. Illustrated in color, 8vo, cloth, 1.50 

Contains the original Teuniel drawings, beside twelve new ones in 
color by Maria L. Kirk. 

Through the Looking Glass. Illustrated in color, 

8vo, cloth L50 

Also has illustrations by Miss Kirk as well as the Tenniel drawings. 

Children's Library, The 

Illustrated. Each 16m o, cloth 50 

Stories of all kinds interesting to children. 

The Would-be Witch. Miriam Byrne. 

Two Are Company. E. M. Field. 

The Old Oak Chest. 

Mary Jane Papers. A. G. Plympton. 

Courage. Euth Ogden. 

Little Homespun. Euth Ogden. 

Tommy's Tiny Tales. Lady Leigh. 

The House of the Eed Fox. Miriam Byrne. 

Cooke, Grace MacGowan 
Son Eiley Eabbit and Little Girl. Illustrated, 4to, 

cloth 1.50 

The adventures of a little girl and a rabbit, with excellent photo- 
graphs. 

Dumas, Alexandre 
Fairy Tales. Illustrated, 4to, cloth ,,„,,,, 1.00 



STANDARD BOOKS FOR CHILDREN 415 

Dunham, Edith 
Jogging EouND THE World. 4to, cloth... 1.50 

With photographs of curious methods of transportation. 

Glen, M. A. 
Twelve Magic Changelings. Cut-outs in color, 4to, 

boards, .75; paper 50 

Magic Changelings. Cut-outs in color, 4to, boards 50 

Mirthful Menagerie. Cut-outs in color, 4to, boards.. .50 
Agile Acrobats. Cut-outs in color. 4to, boards 35 

Harris, Joel Chandler 
Uncle Eemus and Bre' r Eabbit. Illustrations in color. 

Oblong, 4to, boards 1.00 

Some of Bre'r Rabbit's most amusing adventures told in stories, 
verses and pictures. 

Jewett, J. H. 

Bunny Stories. Illustrated, 4to, boards 1.00 

Same, cloth 1.50 

More Bunny Stories. Illustrated, 4to, boards 1.00 

Same, cloth 1.50 

Mendes, H. P. 
In Old Egypt. Illustrated, 4to, cloth 1.00 

Moore, N. Hudson 
Children of Other Days. Illustrated, 4to, cloth 1.50 

An art book for children, giving reproductions of famous paintings 
of children. 

Ogden, Ruth 

A Little Queen of Hearts. Illustrated, 4to, boards, 1.00 
Same, cloth 1.50 

The account of the visit of a Httle American girl to England. 

A Loyal Little Eed Coat. Illustrated, 4to, boards 1.00 
Same, cloth 1.50 

A story of a child in Nev7 York one hundred years ago. 

Loyal Hearts AND True. Illustrated, 12mo, cloth 1.00 

How " The Dry Dock Club ' ' showed its patriotic spirit during the 
war with Spain. 



4i6 STANDARD BOOKS FOR CHILDREN 

Outcault, R. F. 
Buster Brown's Autobiography. Illustrated in color, 

4to, cloth 1.50 

With many new adventures. 

Buster's and Mary Jane's Painting Book. Oblong, 

4to, boards 75 

Pictures to be colored, some with colored models. 

TiGE : His Story. Illustrated, 4to, cloth 1.00 

Tige's adventures, with some of Buster's. 

Buster Brown Abroad. Illustrated, 4to, cloth 1. 00 

What Buster did in foreign lands. 

Peary, Josephine D. 
The Snow Baby. Illustrated, 4to, cloth net^ 1. 20 

The birth and infancy of Marie Ahnighito Peary, illustrated by 
photographs taken by her parents in the far North. 

Peary, Marie Ahnighito and Josephine D. 
Children of the Arctic. Illustrated, 4to, cloth... net^ 1.20 

The Snow Baby's second trip to the Arctic. 

Peary, Robert E. 

Snowl AND Folk. Illustrated, 4to, cloth net, 1.20 

True stories about the fascinating land of eternal snow. 

Randolph, H. S. F. 
The New Mother Goose. With cut-out illustrations in 

color, 4to, boards 1.00 

An illustrated story remains after removal of the cut-outs. 

The Fire Fighters. With cut-out illustrations in color, 

4to, boards 1.00 

Story with models of fire engine, hook and ladder, etc., in draw- 
ings and cut-outs. 

Selous, Edmund 

Tommy Smith's Animals. Illustrated, 16mo, cloth 1.00 

Tommy Smith's Other Animals. Illustrated, 16mo, 

cloth 1.00 

Conversations of a little boy with the common country animals. 

Williams, Clara Andrew 
The House That Glue Built. Cut-out pictures in 

color. Oblong, 4to, boards 1.00 

Pictures of the rooms of a house with separate sheets giving the fur- 
niture, to be pasted into place. 



STANDARD BOOKS FOR CHILDREN 417 

The Fun That Glue Made. Cut-out pictures in color. 

Oblong, 4to, boards 1.00 

Scenes in bright colors of children at play, to be pasted together. 

The Stories That Glue Told. Out-out pictures in 

color. Oblong, 4to, boards 1.00 

Pictures of well-known stories to be cut out and pasted together. 



Books For Very Young Children 

Betts, Ethel Franklin 
Favorite Nursery Ehymes. Illustrated in color, 4to, 

cloth 1.50 

The most popular nursery rhymes beautifully illustrated. 

Burgess, Gelett 
Goops AND How TO BE Them. Illustrated, 4to, cloth 1.50 

The primary rules of good manners in clever rhymes. 

More Goops and How Not to be Them. Illustrated, 

4to, cloth 1.50 

With many more of Mr. Burgess's whimsical pictures. 

Goop Tales, Alphabetically Told. Illustrated, 4to, 

cloth 1.50 

Two alphabets — one of boys and one of girls. 

The Lively City o' Ligg. Illustrated in color, 4to, 

boards 1.00 

Modern fables — a Hans Andersen up to date. 

The Burgess Nonsense Book. Illustrated. Small 4to, 

cloth 2.00 

A collection of Mr. Burgess's nonsense verses and stories, 
Deming, E. W. 
Eed Folk and Wild Folk. Illustrated in color, 4to, 

cloth net^ 1.50 

Little Indian people in the forest, with their animal playfellows. 

Children of the Wild. Illustrated in color, 4to, 

cloth net, 1.00 

Little Brothers of the West. Illustrated in color, 

4to, cloth net, 1.00 

Each of these books contains just half the pictures and text of 
"Eed Folk and Wild Folk." 

Indian Child Life. Illustrated in color. Oblong, 4to, 

boards 2.00 

Stories about Indian children. 



4i8 STANDARD BOOKS FOR CHILDREN 

Little Red People. Illustrated in color. Oblong, 

4to, boards 1.25 

Little Indian Folk. Illustrated in color. Oblong, 

4to, boards L25 

Each containing just half the illustrations and text in the preced- 
ing volume. 



Dumpy Books for Children 
Illustrated in color. Each 32mo, boards 50 

Simple stories for very young children. 

The Story of the Teasing Monkey. Helen Ban- 
nerman. 

Billy Mouse. Arthur Layard. 

Pat and the Spider. Helen Bannerman. 

The Story of Little Kettle Head. Helen Ban- 
nerman. 

The Story of Little Black Quibba. Helen Ban- 
nerman. 

The Story of Little Black Sambo. Helen Ban- 
nerman. 

The Bad Mrs. Ginger. Honor C. Appleton. 

The Alphabet Book. Henry Mayer. 

A Cat Book. E. V. Lucas and H. C. Smith. 



Haines, Alice Calhoun 

Little Folk of Brittany. Illustrated in color, 4to, 

cloth 1.50 

Delightful stories and verses about this remarkable land. 

Indian Boys and Girls. Illustrated in color, 4to, cloth, 1.50 

Indian children in characteristic occupations. 

When Grandma Was Little. Illustrated in color, 4to, 

cloth 1.00 

What Grandma Says. Illustrated in color, 4to, cloth... 1.00 

Stories and verses in which things happen as Grandma says they 
used to. 

Boys. Illustrated in color. Large 4to, boards 1. 00 

Girls. Illustrated in color. Large 4to, boards 1.00 

Distinctive and beautiful stories and verses of child life. 

Little Japs at Play. Illustrated in color. Large 4to, 

boards , 1.00 



STANDARD BOOKS FOR CHILDREN 419 

Jap Boys and Giels. Illustrated in color. Large 4to, 

boards 1.00 

Verse and text relatiDg incideDts true to the life of the yoaDg 



Humphrey, Mabel 
The Book of the Cat. Illustrated in color. Large 4to, 

boards 1.50^ 

Contains E. F. Bonsall's well-known illustrations. ^i 

The Book of the Child. Illustrated in color. Large 

4to, boards 2.00 

Child life illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith and Elizabeth Ship- 
pen Green. 

Humphrey, Maud 
A Treasury of Stories, Jingles and Ehymes. Illus- 
trated, 4to, cloth 1.25 

Nursery Song Book. Illustrated in color. Oblong, 4to, 

boards 1.25 

The words and music of favorite nursery songs. 

Parker, N. and B. 
Funny Bunnies. Illustrated in colors. Large 4to, boards, 1. 75 

A book of amusing rabbits, Avifch verses about them. 

The Browns— a Book of Bears. Illustrated. Large 

oblong 4to, boards 1.50 

A Book of Baby Birds. Illustrated in tints. Large 

4to, boards 1 . 25 

Showing the habits of nesting and feeding, and other characteristics. 

Parkinson, William 
A Knight Errant of the Nursery. Illustrated in 

color. Large oblong 4to, boards 1.75 

Williams, Clara Andrews 
The Teddy Bears. Illustrated in color. Oblong 4to., 

boards 1.00 

The adventures of plush bears, and their child owners. 



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